Dimensions
by Sophie-U.F
Summary: hetalia x reader series
1. Intro

How troublesome...  
Yet another day of school... Dealing with the populars and the teachers, getting through the lessons, surviving throughout the day, just like every other day of my life; I hide myself from everyone else and, sometimes, dream about how would my life be if I just were to live in a different world other than this own.  
Do you want to know where I would like to live? Well, for a start, I've always been a great fan of sci-fi, anime and manga, so there were a lot of places and characters I usually dream about, but there is this place I dream about more than any other, the world of Hetalia. Don't think I'm stupid, I know these places are purely fictional, but they are my only escape from the real world, the world that hates my existence and tries to turn it into Hell itself, so don't blame me.  
As I was saying, a normal day of school, maybe a little worse than usual. The populars had been leaving me in peace for the last days, but, obviously, that peace had to come to an end. The cheerleaders felt (or, at least, I think they did) the need to bully me again; my mind didn't register what exactly happened, the only thing I remember is the roar of laughter that echoed in my ears and the 'snap' of photos being taken.  
I started running to wherever my legs could take me. My refuge ended up being the girl's bathroom; I looked at the mirror and, from my feet to my head, I was covered in flour, my hair was full of spaghetti and that thing they call meat but no one really knows for sure what is. The urge to cry grew bigger than I was able to handle.

I don't know how much time has passed since I entered the bathroom to hide from those bullies, but it has certainly been awhile, I could tell so for my migraine and dry tears.  
With a sniff, I raised my head at a strange sound that seemed to come from somewhere in the bathroom. Tiredly, I got up to look for the sound's source; I looked around, and I did find something, from one of the cabinets was coming a mysterious purple-ish light. My head was screaming at me to turn around and walk away; but, against my good sense and following both my curiosity and my thought of 'if something happens, no one will care either way', I opened the cabinet's door.  
I felt myself being pulled from my feet and into the purple vortex; a yell left my lips as my body was pulled into the unknown, even though a thought didn't leave my head: 'It can't be worse than my life at this school!'

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" My scream was engulfed by the vortex of purple, pink and blue.


	2. Pirate Prussia

Here I was now, standing in the middle of a colourful nowhere. I looked around, but nothing other than the colours and myself was to be seen. I called for someone for help, but my voice was lost in this place of nothing.  
Despair was starting to get to me; sure I wanted to escape my lonely life, but not for one that was even lonelier. There was nothing in here, there was no one in here.  
"Hello!" I tried once again. "Is there anybody here? If there's someone here, answer me! Please!"  
Still nothing in sight, but, this time, there was something different; the sound of an echoing voice reached my ears.  
"A life for a life..."  
"What...?" I wondered, confused at whatever they meant with that.  
"A time for a time..."  
"Who's there?" I demanded, starting to get officially freaked out at my current situation.  
"A memory for a memory..."  
My eyes furiously darted around in search for the voice's source. No avail, the voice didn't seem to come from anywhere, even though it also seemed to be coming from every possible direction around me.  
The voice started again, faster:

"A life for a life,  
A time for a time,  
A memory for a memory..."

The same sentence was repeated again and again, faster and faster, louder and louder.  
As the voice grew stronger, my mind started to get fuzzy, my thoughts started to mix senselessly with each other; I felt as though my head was about to blow up.  
"Stop it!" I begged, clutching viciously to my head, but my voice seemed to get weaker as the mysterious echoing voice grew stronger. I fell down to my knees, whimpering for the voice to stop; then, silence.  
I blinked my eyes open and my hands retreated from my head; carefully, I got back up on my feet, surprised at the sudden disappearance of the voice.  
"What happened?" I whispered to myself.  
"Some wishes are granted..." the voice had returned, but, this time, it was coming from a specific direction.  
Turning around, I saw something... odd! The voice belonged to a shadow, a shadow with the figure of a girl.  
"...others are not." she continued. "Your wish was accepted!"  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
The shadow startled me, when it abruptly revealed the existence of blood-red scrutinizing eyes.  
"I'm going to send you away from your world." it stated, it's previously suave voice now appearing ragged and ear-wrenching.  
"W-what?"  
"Are you stupid, girl?" it mocked. "Give me it and I'll send you!"  
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I won't be giving you anything of mine!" I refused, shaking my head and stepping away from the figure.  
"You don't really have a choice, you know?" it laughed, pointing a finger somewhere. "Look there, your time is ticking! Stay here or go, it's your choice~!"  
Following it's finger I could see a vortex; where it had come from I didn't know, but it certainly wasn't there before. The vortex swirled with tones of black, white, silver and golden.  
"I don't..." I started, but was suddenly pushed into the vortex.  
"Wrong answer~..." mused the shadow while pushing me.  
I lost balance and fell backwards after a sentence resounded:

"A life for a life,  
A time for a time,  
A memory for a memory...  
That is how the world works, to obtain something, you must loose something. There is a lot of trades you can make, you know what is this one?  
A WORLD FOR A WORLD!" it was the shadow, a wicked laughter reverberating as the words ended.  
As the new vortex engulfed my body, I felt as though a part of me had been left behind. A world for a world, it said? My world for what world...?

Floating in the middle of a black, white, silver and golden space, I felt lost, is this some kind of passage way or the actual world that shadow had sent me too? I honestly hoped it wasn't the latter... But the fact was that this place didn't seem like a passage way, more like an infinity of nothing.

I don't know how much time it had passed as I floated in the air, when something weird happened. First, a (f/c) light enveloped my body, somehow turning my clothes into a medieval (f/c) dress, then the colours of the space were quickly turning into blue all around me, not only that, but the space was also being filled with water; I started panicking, I was never a great fan of water, nor was I a great swimmer, quite the opposite actually, I could maintain myself at the surface, but that was all. Now being surrounded by water from all sides and seeing nothing but blue, fear was slowly winning me over.

(change of POV for 3rd person)

The day wasn't bad, but it wasn't sunny either as the pirate ship sailed on the Atlantic Ocean. Things were following their normal course, until...  
"Capt'n, I saw someone in zhe vater!" called one of the subordinates.  
"In zhe vater? Zhat's not possible, ve're in zhe middle of zhe ocean!" argued the captain, a young man with silver short hair and red eyes.  
"Nein, captain, he's telling zhe truth! Zhere's a girl in zhe vater!"  
"A girl?" he wondered, leaving the wheel to join the sailors. Looking at the water, he saw, in fact, a girl, slowly starting to be swallowed by the huge mass of water. In a moment, he took off his hat and jacket.  
"Get a rope!" he ordered, before diving into the sea.

A commotion was created on the ship as every member of the crew searched for a strong rope that wasn't being used to hold down sails or cannons.

The water was cold, or so it felt as it touched his skin. Looking around, he searched for the girl, finding only the sight of her (h/c) hair as well as a pool of flour floating while her body was slowly being dragged down. Diving, he managed to grasp her waist, quickly pulling her up with him.  
Breaking through the surface of the water, the silverette grabbed with his free hand the rope that dangled beside the ship.  
"Pull!" he shouted upwards, his demand being almost immediately answered by his subordinates.

Back to his ship, the ruby-eyed male took his jacket and hat back while a soft 'thud' accompanied the fall of the female body to the ground.  
Her body was limp and pale and her breathing seemingly nonexistent. Surprising everyone around, a coughing fit and spits of water were triggered as her back hit the ground; in a tentative not to gag with the water that was coming out, the girl sat up suddenly, holding her torso up with one arm, while the other hand was close to her mouth.

"You're alive? Surprising, frau!" chuckled the captain of the ship.  
Surprised at the unexpected presence, the female looked up.  
"What happened? Who are you, and... Where am I?" she asked, warily observing her surroundings.  
"You don't know?" the captain of the ship laughed. "You have to be kidding!"  
"I'm not!" snapped the girl. "I wouldn't have asked if I knew where I was!"  
The snake-like laughter stopped all of a sudden, when the male blinked dumbly at the (h/c) head.  
"You really don't know?" he echoed.  
"No!" she flatly confirmed.  
"Vell, frau, you're in zhe awesome pirate ship from vhich zhe awesome me is zhe captain!" he stated proudly.  
"So... I'm in a ship?" she repeated, obtaining a nod from the loud male. "And where exactly is this ship, right now?"  
"In zhe Atlantic!" he answered.  
"And you are~?" she mused, eyeing him from toes to head.  
"I am zhe most infamous of pirates, zhe awesome captain Gilbert Beilschmidt!"  
"Oh... Okay... Well, I'm (f/n) (l/n), it's a pleasure to meet you!" presented the girl.

"SPANISH COAST IN SIGHT, CAPT'N!"  
"Make yourself at home, frau, ve're arriving our destination!" informed the german, leaving the girl and going back to the wheel.

Carefully, the girl got up on her feet and, more attentively now, observed her surroundings; where the hell had that shadow send her too? She had no knowledge about any place in the world where people still used medieval clothing, swords and pirate ships still fully made of wood; there was no signal of a motor, or any electronic device for that matter; and, come to think of it, the name 'Gilbert Beilschmidt' did ring a bell, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it, was it from a book, a class, a TV show maybe? She couldn't remember! But all of this was strange, looking down at her own clothes, the shadow had also provided her with a medieval dress, but why? Honestly, only an hypotheses came to her mind, but she needed confirmation.  
She looked around, detecting a lonely sailor drinking what it looked to be either beer or rum, the bottle was dirty so it was kind of hard to see; he didn't seemed occupied with anything, so she walked up to him.  
"Excuse me, mister!" she called, getting his attention. "Could you tell me which year are we in?"  
"1602." he answered.  
"Oh, thank you!" she thanked, before walking away.  
'So, I'm in the XVII century... How is that even possible?' she thought with a sigh, looking at the horizon while trying to find possible solutions for her problem. She was distracted for a long while, long enough not to notice the boat's arrival to land.  
There she was, thinking, watching the view, when...

"Eh!? Amigo, who's that?" asked a brunette.  
"Zhe frau? I found her in zhe middle of zhe ocean!" answered Gilbert.  
"The ocean, you say? What was she doing in there? Women are supposedly bad luck for ships, no?"  
"I don't know, she said she didn't even how she got zhere!"  
"That's weird." mused the spanish. "Hm... Maybe we should talk to her!"  
"Ja, maybe ve should." agreed the german, before calling: "Hej, fraulein, are you coming or nein?"  
(F/n) whirled around to face the duo of pirates.  
'Don't go, it might be dangerous. You're dealing with pirates after all, actual real pirates!' her inner self said, but, once again, she just decided to not pay attention to what her conscience said, and did the exact opposite; she walked up to the two males.  
"What?" she asked.  
"Buenas, chica!" chirped the spanish. "My name is Antonio Carriedo!"  
"Hi, I'm (f/n)!"  
"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl~!" he mused with a wink. "We were wondering if you'd like to keep us company while we have a drink."  
"Where are you going to 'have a drink'?" she mocked softly, lightly raising an eyebrow.  
"In mein awesome cabinet!" responded the silver head, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Zhose unawesome bars are for zhe sailors!"  
'Yeah, right, whatever you say...' scoffed her innerself, but what left her mouth was: "I-I don't know, I really think I shouldn't..."  
"You have anyzhing else to be doing?" demanded the german.  
"Well, no, but..."  
"Fantastico! Then you won't mind keeping us company!" the spanish interrupted.  
Before she could realize, they had taken her to the captain's cabinet, so far so good; what worried her was the sound of the door being locked, it made her heart beat increase ever so lightly. And, out of a sudden, she was forced to sit down on a chair.  
'Great, (f/n)! See? That's what you get for ignoring your good sense.'  
"Perdon por nuestros modos, señorita." Antonio apologised. "But we have a few questions we would like to ask you! You don't mind, do you?"  
"Go ahead!" she sighed. 'Not like I have a choice...'  
"Vhat vere you doing in zhe middle of novhere?" inquired the prussian captain.  
"I told you already!" she huffed. "I don't know, I don't know what I was doing there, I can't recall where I came from and I don't remember all that much about my home!"  
"And you really don't remember how you got zhere?" asked the silver head.  
"Well..."  
"Ja?"  
"The last thing I remember is being sucked into a black, white, silver and golden vortex." she mused thoughtfully.  
"A vortex?" wondered Antonio. "What's that?"  
"It's kind of like a whirlwind..." explained the (h/c) head.  
"Und after zhat?" asked the prussian, obtaining a head shake from the girl.  
"I don't remember anything else, until I woke up in your ship." she assured.  
"What were the colours of that 'vortex' again?" inquired the spanish.  
"Vhat are you zhinking, Toni?"  
"Nothing much..." replied the brunette.  
"The colours were black, white, golden and silver, why do you ask?" said the female.  
"It's just... No, it's probably nothing..." muttered the spaniard, more to himself than to the others.  
"You're not going to leave us hanging now, are you?" intervened Gilbert, raising an eyebrow at his friend.  
"Well... It might be just a coincidence, but she appeared where you were and those are the colours of your flag..." Antonio reasoned.  
"Vhat are you saying?" inquired the red-eyed male.  
"Maybe you should keep her close by, nothing else!" stated the shorter of the two males.  
"Maybe~..." mused the german, suddenly turning away from his friend to face the girl. "Vell, fraulein, it looks like you'll be enjoying mein awesome company from now on!"  
"Huh... S-sure, I guess...?" she replied, while her mind argued vehemently:  
'This is a terrible idea, you should stay in this port and start to look for some way to return home! Don't go with the pirates! Hey, why do you never listen to me?'

-  
Months passed by much quicker than expected.  
During that time she met a lot of new people, from friends to supposed enemies.  
One of Gilbert's greatest enemies when it came to piracy, was the british captain, Arthur Kirkland. He had been quite the gentleman, even after kidnapping her in order to blackmail the prussian; but he also had promised to help her find a way to return to the home she didn't remember, with the help of both his magic and bestfriends.  
She met Gilbert's and Antonio's bestfriend, the french captain, Francis Bonnefoy, a true romantic he was, maybe a little too much; she was showered in kisses, roses and presents everytime they met, and that usually did not leave captain Beilschmidt in a good humor, for what reason, was unknown to (f/n).  
She met two childhood friends of the prussian, Elizabeta Hédérvary and Roderich Eidelstein. Both girls got along wonderfully. But the same couldn't be said about the austrian; he thought the (nationality) was plainly uncouth; she thought the austrian was stiff idiot, even if she did like his music.  
She met Gilbert's little brother. The boy was the most adorable thing; he was sweet, nice, admired his older brother and was always concerning over the prussian. The first time they had seen each other, little Ludwig was more than suspicious, he almost never took his eyes away from her to make sure she didn't do anything bad; after a while, he grew closer to her and warmed up to her, to the point of calling her 'sister' and considering her almost his mother. The boy was an absolute sweet.  
She met a lot of other people, many of them somehow related to the prussian she constantly followed around.  
During that time, she also discovered a secret, a secret that involved, not only Gilbert, but also most of the people she had come to know; they weren't humans, not normal humans at least, they were personifications, the personifications of their countries. Now she understood what Toni had meant when he said the colours of the vortex were the colours of Gilbert's flag; Gilbert was Prussia, and Prussia's flag had those colours.  
But there was one more thing... It had been almost a year ever since the prussian found her almost drowning in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Across that time, at some point, a switch somewhere inside her mind had been activated, she had developed something for the albino, something that she couldn't explain, something that she knew exactly what it was, something she had not the courage to confess to anyone; she had grown to love that eccentric pirate captain, Gilbert Beilschmidt. But the thought of being rejected, and the knowledge of his immortality and her mortality kept her from revealing anything to anyone; that is, until an idea struck her mind...

It was nighttime, she managed to escape the cabinet without waking the silverette. If she really wanted to do this, she'd have to hurry; find her way to Arthur's ship, convince the british and go back to pretend to be asleep, all before the first morning rays, because that was when the prussian would wake.  
Silently, she slipped away from the cabinet, exited the vessel, and carefully made her way to the opposite end of the docks, where she knew Arthur's ship would be. Avoiding to be seen by anyone, she reached the door that lead to the british captain's cabinet; she tried to open the door, but, seeing that it was locked, she knocked softly.  
"Arthur, it's me, (f/n)! Please, open the door..." she called in a whisper.  
A few moments passed before the sound of the lock opening was heard.  
"(F/n), lass, what are ya doin' here?" asked sleepily the blond; the (h/c) head shifted and fidgeted under his gaze, suddenly afraid of asking for the favour.  
"(F/n), is everything okay?" he wondered, overlooking her nervous frame.  
"Y-yes!" she shot. "I just... I wanted to ask you... something..."  
"Go ahead, lass!" encouraged the brit.  
"Do you... for any chance... happen to know how... how to turn someone into an immortal, like you?" she stuttered. Britain's eyes widened at this; he pulled her inside his cabinet and looked around, before locking the door again.  
"Why are you asking this?" he demanded harshly.  
"I'm sorry, it's just... I just..." she hiccuped, looking away from the male; his eyes softened at the sight.  
"I do... know a spell, but why did you ask me about it?" Arthur sighed.  
"W-well... Tomorrow makes one year since Gilbert found me in the Atlantic..." she explained. "And, across this time, I... I grew closer to him, a-and I came to care about him... a lot more than I expected, and I... I..." a sigh left (tone) lips as she made a move to hug the pirate. "Oh, Arthur, I don't want to go back home..."  
"You want me to use the spell on you." he stated, returning the hug; she nodded simply.  
"I don't want to leave him, ever..."  
"You realize how dangerous it is, right? A spell such as this."  
"Yes, but I still want you to do it."  
"Alright..." he sighed. "But it might take a while!"

\- Time Skip of coloured lights and multicoloured flying bunnies -  
\- Prussia's pirate ship -

The light coming from the windows of the cabinet awoke the prussian captain. Not so lazily, he got up and dressed, but there was something missing... There was no (f/n) shouting at him to stop being loud and let her sleep or whimpering about how hungry she was and for him to get her food or complaining about the bad bathing conditions of the ship; maybe she was feeling sick, her throat was sore or she was simply too tired to say anything? Either way, he walked up to her bed on the other side of the cabinet, thinking of the best way to wake the girl up with a scare. He was about to jump on top of her, but...

The prussian furiously exited his room.  
"Vhere is (f/n)?" he asked every member of his crew, but no one had seen her that day yet; that did it, he was mad, really mad.  
In a matter of seconds, every single member of his crew was searching every centimeter of both the docks and the city for the lost female; the awesome Prussia himself was in search for her.  
Come to think of it, wasn't the black sheep of Europe around too? Yes, he was! Everyone knew how Gilbert hated to ask for help, especially because of his pride; but he would open an exception this once, he knew that (f/n) and Arthur had a good friendship, he would ask for the brit's help this time, for (f/n)'s sake.

Quickly, the albino ran up to the british ship; he ignored the english sailors that tried to stop him and violently knocked on the captain's door.  
Annoyed grumbles of 'I told you not to interrupt me' came from the inside along with heavy sound of footsteps; the door opened slightly as Arthur snapped:  
"What the bloody hell d'ya want?" the english's eyes widened at the sight of the german.  
"I... need help..." muttered the silverette, almost ashamed to pronounce the last word.  
"What for?" inquired the blond.  
"I can't... I can't find (f/n) anyvhere!" whimpered the albino.  
"W-well... I'm a little busy right now, but you can take my crew members to help you searching!" blurted the shorter male, his eyes nervously darting around as he tried to shoo the german away. Gilbert's eyebrow raised at this; he was sure that the brit was up to something.  
"Vhat can be more important zhan her? I zhought you vere her friend!" retaliated the prussian.  
"I-it's... difficult to explain!" excused the brit, sweat now covering his forehead.  
"Vhat are you hiding, Kirkl-?" Gilbert's words died on his throat as he managed to slip into Arthur's cabinet and came to face the sight of the vanished (h/c) head's body being slowly lowered to the ground by a red light.  
"Vhat did you do?" his voice was dangerously calm.  
"What she asked me to." replied curtly the blond.  
"You're lying, she vouldn't ask anyzhing like zhis!" shot the german, turning around and taking a hold of the british's collar. "Vhat did you do?" he demanded, his grip on the other's collar getting tighter by the second.  
"Stop it, you git!" argued Arthur, slapping his fellow pirate's hands away. "She asked me to do this, for you!"  
"Vhat are you talking about?" asked the prussian, closing his fists tightly in a tentative to calm himself down.  
"Do you at least know what spell I did?" reprehended the brit.  
"Nein..." muttered the taller male.  
"No, of course not!" Arthur scoffed.  
"...but her body's limp und..."  
"Listen to me!" ordered England, interrupting the silverette. "What I did was an immortality spell!"  
"Vhat...?" breathed out the prussian. "Vhy vould she do zhat?"  
"You really don't get it, do you?" Arthur chuckled, earning a confused look from the red-eyed male. The english's eyes turned to the girl. "The lass really does care for you, you know?"  
"You mean..."  
"She came to visit me last night, asking me if I knew how to turn her into an immortal and telling me that she had stopped wanting to return home months ago. When I asked her why, she specified that it was because of you, because she didn't want to leave you!" explained the blond. "Honestly, I don't know what she sees in you; but (f/n) is a good friend, and I couldn't deny her request."  
Silence fell upon the room while the prussian's head processed everything under the serious gaze of the brit. That same silence was broken not long after, by what it seemed like some kind of moan; the sound caused for the male's gazes to fall upon the female form just as she blinked her eyes open.  
Seeing her opening those (e/c) orbs he had grown to love in the past year, sent a wave of relief and something else he couldn't identify quite well through the german's body; before he could realize, Gilbert was kneeling on the ground, cradling her sore body in his arms and showering her face with kisses while saying:  
"Please don't ever do somezhing like zhat again, please, ich liebe dich (f/n)! Don't ever disappear on me again, you hear? Ich liebe dich, (f/n), ich liebe dich!"  
"Whoa, calm down, Gilbert!" she giggled. "I promise I won't disappear like that again, but..." she interrupted herself.  
"But?" urged the albino.  
"You know I don't understand german!" she recalled, lightly raising an eyebrow. At this, Gilbert got up with her and, softly, took her hands on his; out of a sudden, he pulled her close enough so their foreheads were touching. Proudly, he smirked down at her and repeated his words, this time in english:  
"I love you!"  
Before pulling her into a kiss.

"I... Should be going now!" muttered Arthur, quickly taking his leave, leaving the other two alone.

After a couple of moments, they parted, but kept their foreheads together.  
"I love you too..." she confessed, breathless.  
"I know!"

~~~And I'll never leave you, no matter what!~~~


	3. 2P England

Here I stood, in the middle of a blue, pink and purple space, in the middle of nothing. Now, that's weird, what the hell was that vortex in the bathroom after all?

I didn't have much time to think about it as the colours around me started taking the actual shape of something. This new environment resembled the countryside, an odd countryside; the grass and leaves were red, the wood of the trees was white, the flowers and everything else was dark blue, but the sky remained a swirl of light blue, pink and purple. I felt lost and dislocated in here, why would a place like this even exist, there was no sign of life whatsoever, nor human, nor wild, and looking closer at the plants, they weren't breathing, they weren't alive! Just... what was this place?

"Hello! Is there anybody here? Someone, please, answer me!" I called, but everything remained silent (with the exception of my echo), not even wind or water could be heard.

I sighed, after an hour or two, and sat down, leaning my back on a tree trunk; for moments, my eyes closed, giving me a much needed rest. But my rest was interrupted when I felt something sticky on my shoulder, I blinked my eyes open and looked over at my shoulder; what I saw, terrified me, it was blood. Out of instinct, I stumbled back up on my feet and looked up, there, in the trunk, a statement was written in blood:

'A life for a life...'

Startled, I turned around to run, but another tree was on my way, with the following phrase:

'A time for a time...'

Trying to run towards another direction, there was another tree.

'A memory for a memory...'

Finally, I managed to escape those trees and started to run away, but, ever so often, a tree with one of those three statements would pop up on either side of me. I kept on running as fast as I could, until a larger tree, almost like a sequoia, cut my way, startling me, this tree had something different and, despite my fear, I was still curious about what it read:

'A life for a life,

A time for a time,

A memory for a memory...

That is how the world works, to obtain something, you must loose something. There is a lot of trades you can make, you know what is this one?

A WORLD FOR A WORLD!'

I didn't understand it, not right away, at least, but I also didn't have much time to dwell on the matter; the howling of wolves reached my ears, startling me. Instinctively, I tried to step back, but ended up tripping, probably over a rock or something of the kind, and fell into a vortex that swirled with the colours of dark blue, white and red.

In less than a second, the menacing howling disappeared along with the mysterious forest/countryside. And here I was again, alone, in the middle of a tricoloured space of nothing.

"What the hell is going on?" I whimpered. "I want to go back home..."

As the last words left my mouth, a neon blue and pink light enveloped my body, disappearing seconds later, having traded my clothes and the food covering me for a knee-length bright pink dress, bright pink flats, neon blue collants and a neon blue bow that decorated my (h/c) tresses.

I felt something coursing through me, I had a bad feeling about this; but, what could I do?

It wasn't long after that when the tricoloured space started to take the aspect of a street; one of those dark streets where no one dared to enter and from where screams and cries were heard. The sole thought made me shiver in fear as I cursed my curiosity; why did I have to go check on that weird vortex?

Looking up at the sky, I could tell it was getting late, the sky was already acquiring a purple-ish tone.

Drunken laughter accompanied by a clanking sound made my heartbeat increase violently; I whipped my head around to detect where the sound was coming from, I didn't see the source, but could tell where it was coming from and also that it was approaching my position rather quickly. Without a second thought, I did what my instinct told me and hid behind some trash cans, hopefully hidden from the sight of possible offenders.

\- to the bakery (change of POV - Oliver) -

'Hm... I have a strange feeling, maybe I should check it... just in case!' I thought with a chuckle.

Following my 'feeling', I closed the bakery and decided to walk down one of my favourite streets in London.

Why was it one of my favourite streets, you ask? That's an easy question; no one but thugs, thieves, dependents and offenders entered this street, meaning it was easy for me to find 'ingredients' for my famous cupcakes!

But this day was different, something seemed... off! My feeling was confirmed when a cry for help reached my ears, that wasn't strange, what was strange was the fact of being the cry of a female.

\- Back to the reader (change of POV - 3rd person) -

It was a good hiding place she got, hadn't it been for her foot to hit one of the trash cans, causing something to fall from it, revealing her position.

"Hey, lads, look what we've got here!"

"A young lady, eh?" one snickered, pulling her up by her arm, up enough so that her feet didn't touch the ground. "You know, miss, it's dangerous to walk around these streets alone, especially at a time like this~!"

"Ugh, leave me alone!" she spat, trying to kick them.

"She has some fighting spirit!" chuckled a third man, roughly tugging on her dress. "Shame it won't serve her much!"

The harassing kept going; but everything stopped abruptly when the man holding her cried out in pain, letting her fall to the ground.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Someone in here doesn't know how to treat a lady~!" mused the mystery man. Looking in his direction, (f/n) could see, even in the darkness, his neon blue orbs and the twinkling of the butcher's knife he was holding, but what sent shivers down her spine was the pink that swirled in his already bright eyes.

"Who are you?" demanded one of the offenders, looking down at the newcomer.

"Me?" he chuckled. "Just a gentleman trying to help a young lady!" he stated, slowly stepping into the circle of light, revealing his features to all the presents. One of the men's eyes widened as he shouted:

"I know him, he's that psycho Oliver Kirkland!"

'Oliver', or so had the man called him, seemed to snap after hearing the word 'psycho' describing him; in no more than 5 minutes, the circle of light had turned into the more bloody scene ever seen by the girl. Her horrified expression and her trembling body were enough of a evidence that she was not used to such scenes.

Shocked, she didn't move until the killer helped her up to her feet.

"Are you okay, poppet?" he asked; looking at him, the pink swirls had, for some reason, disappeared from his blue eyes, he didn't seem all that threatening without that crazy expression.

Still too shocked to talk, she limited herself to give him an affirmative nod.

"Good..." he sighed. "I am really sorry that you had to witness this, we should get you out of here now, yes?"

Again, she just nodded, but took his arm nonetheless, accepting his offer to get her out of that place.

He lead her out of the shady street in silence, getting them both to safety without so much as a scratch.

"Now... What was a young lady like you doing in a place like that?" he asked, figuring out that her shock had worn off by now.

"W-well... That is... I..." she stuttered, not knowing what to answer to that question; actually, now that she thought about it, how exactly had she got there, where had she came from? It seemed like the memories of her life prior to what happened had been wiped off her mind, leaving a mysterious fog behind.

Thinking about an answer, she stopped walking as her eyes seemed to look towards the infinite in search for herself.

"Poppet, are you feeling alright?" Oliver wondered, raising an eyebrow and waving a hand in front of her eyes, almost like a child would do.

"I... don't know..." she whispered, her (e/c) orbs starting to tremble as she came to the harsh realization that her memories, her life was lost; she had nothing.

"What?" wondered the strawberry-blond.

"I don't remember, I can't remember anything!" she blurted, looking up at the male with her eyes that started to tear up.

"What are you talking about, poppet? I don't understand." he said. "You don't remember how you got there?"

She shook her head violently.

"Alright, alright, that's okay, can you tell me where you came from?" he asked.

"I... I don't know..." she whispered, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

The brit furrowed his thick eyebrows.

"Hm... Tell me, poppet, do you recall anything at all?"

"I know my name, my age, my likes, my dislikes, but..."

"I see!" he mused, before taking her hand in his. "Come with, we'll find a way to help you!" he shot her a reassuring smile, starting to lead her away.

They stopped in front of a nice bakery, but...

"It's closed!" she stated bluntly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, poppet!" he chuckled. "It's my bakery!"

"Eh!? You're a baker, I would've never guessed..." she breathed out.

Always wearing a smile, Oliver lead her inside, making her sit in one of the tables. He was quick to go to the kitchen as something started to bother him in the exact moment he stepped into the store.

'Kill her, she's just like everyone else!' said a voice in his head.

"But she seems nice."

'They always do, until the moment when they don't need you anymore. She'll just turn her back away and leave, just wait...'

Somehow, the voice had made his hand move to the purple cupcakes, the ones with poison.

"But I wanted to give her something nice..." Oliver muttered in disagreement.

'Trust me, the best thing you can give her is an instant death!' assured the voice.

Divided about what he should do, he picked up both a pink and a purple cupcakes, only hoping that whatever choice he did would be the correct one.

"Tell me poppet, I never did catch your name!" said Oliver, emerging from the kitchen carrying a tray with the two cupcakes.

"Well, I'm (f/n), (f/n) (l/n)!" she answered with a small smile. "And you're Oliver, right?"

"That is correct!" he nodded, placing the tray on the table. He watched as the (h/c) head picked up the purple cupcake, and suddenly something clicked in his head. "You didn't run." he muttered.

The girl looked up from the cupcake, placing the treat down.

"What did you say?"

"You didn't run away from me, in that street." he repeated.

"Why would I run from someone who only tried to help?" she wondered, watching curiously the male.

"I killed those men!" he stated. "I'm a killer!"

"No less than them." (f/n) reasoned. "God knows what would've happened to me, hadn't you interfered!" she stated, picking up the purple cupcake again.

'I can't kill her!' he thought to himself.

"Wait!" he shot, stopping the girl from eating the cupcake. "Eat the pink one, it's better, I shouldn't have even bring you the purple one!"

"Okay...?" mused the girl, placing down one cupcake and grabbing the other one while thinking:

'Now, this is beyond weird, but I still find his actions cute...' the thought caused her to giggle softly, her actions catching the attention of the englishman.

"What are you laughing at?" he inquired with a pout.

"Nothing, I just find it cute how you're acting so sweet towards a complete stranger." she explained with a light smile, causing the male to look away with a light blush.

"Right...!" he muttered. "I still don't know what to do about you! I suppose I could take you with me..."

'...but then there's Al and the others to deal with!' his head finished for him.

"No, that would be asking too much from you!" refused the girl. "I can't!"

Absently, the male observed her, while having a conversation with himself:

'I can't just leave her here! But think about what they could do to her, she's completely defenseless! Ah, but if I hide her from them, then the problems vanish... That's it!'

"I insist that you come with me, poppet; you don't have a place to stay after all, do you?"

"I could always find some place..." she uttered.

"And stay at the mercy of people like that from earlier?" he mused, knowing that he got her with this.

"W-well..." she stuttered. "Fine, I'll go with you; I guess it won't do any harm." she sighed.

"Wonderful, poppet!" chirped the british. "But, please promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Do exactly as I tell you to, while you're inside my house!" he warned, something the girl couldn't quite identify flashing through his eyes.

"Huh... Sure!?" she nodded, a little uncertain.

\- Time skip with walking, driving, talking and multicoloured cupcakes -

The house was quite big, a mansion almost with a garden of red roses in the front.

"Here we are!" stated the brit, carefully parking the car. The (h/c) head was about to step out of the car, but Oliver grabbed her arm, stopping her from doing so.

"What's wrong?" she wondered.

"From the moment you step out of that door, do exactly what I tell you to, you can't let ANYONE see you!"

"Sure... But why can't anyone see me?" she asked, frankly curious about his odd behaviour.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to, poppet!" replied the neon blue eyed male, a flash of pink passed through his eyes making any possible question vanish from her mind in an instant. She didn't made a move.

Getting out of the car, Oliver, like a gentleman, opened her door for her to exit.

"Come along, poppet!" he said, offering his hand for her to take; warily, she took his hand, helping him pull her out of the car and up to her feet. He closed the door of the car and silently lead her to the front door of the house.

Before he could even open the door, loud crashing was heard from the inside of the building.

"What was that?" asked the girl, clearly startled.

"What I want you to avoid; listen closely..." he stated, then explaining which way she should take to reach a certain room inside the house and telling her to hide from any noise she heard close by or person she might see. "Oh, and one more thing, if you see anything resembling white fur,... Run!" he added.

She nodded dumbly, still trying to absorb all the information she had been provided with.

"Alright then, they should be in the living room; I'll try to keep them in there enough time for you to reach that room I told you." he stated, obtaining yet another nod from the female as he opened the door.

She ran around the maze of corridors, always hearing shouts from the place Oliver had identified as the living room, her heart racing until she reached the 'safe room' and shut the door close. Looking around, she confirmed that it was indeed the right room; it was just like Oliver had described; the room itself was decorated in the colours of bright pink and neon blue, it almost confused the eyes just looking, but that fact was saved by a couple of articles of the Union Jack flag: the cover of the bed, the closet, the floor and the flag itself that was hanging on the wall, even though that particular flag had a few spots, spots of... Blood?

She hadn't much time to think about it, as she got startled when the door of the room was suddenly opened.

"Calm down, poppet, it's just me!" Oliver chuckled, upon seeing her tense figure.

"I'm sorry, I just..."

"You're jumpy, that's fine!"

"Oliver, how am I going to stay here if the people you live with can't see me?"

"Well... For a starter, this room here has a bathroom, I'll improvise a bed, if you need any clothes I'll get something, and food... I'll bring you something from downstairs, the others almost never go to the kitchen, I'm sure they won't notice."

"Alright!" she acceded with a smile.

Oliver managed to keep his secret for a month!

The two were getting along wonderfully; and, after two weeks of her staying, he finally decided to tell her about why he didn't let her out of his room when there was someone in the house; he also changed her treatment from 'poppet' to 'cupcake'. The two grew extremely close to one another, even with the little voice always telling him to kill her slowly in order to hear her screams, and the fact that she was already aware that he was a killer that turned his victims into cupcakes.

But, during that month, something else had been triggered. What was it? It was Allen's suspicious side.

"I'm telling you, there's something fishy!" he shot, when Oliver was washing the clothes and preparing lunch on a certain Sunday.

"Are you sure it's not you, eh?" Matt snickered, causing a chuckle to erupt from François. "You could use a shower every once in a while!"

"Shut it, jackass!" growled the american. "I'm talking about the old man, he's been acting weird!"

"Hasn't he always?" scoffed the canadian.

"Non!" interfered the french. "Al is right, Oliver is 'iding somezhing."

"So what?" shot Matt. "Leave him with his girly secrets!"

"Right on the spot, Mattie!" grinned America. "I did hear a giggle from his room yesterday!"

"He's always giggling, what's so strange about that?" inquired Canada, playing with his hockey stick.

"But that wasn't him, it was a girl, in his room, giggling along with the old man!"

"And what are you zhinking of doing?" mused France, sipping on his drink.

"Isn't it obvious?" shot loudly the american. "I'm going to find that girl, and I want you to help me!"

"I'm busy!" refused Canada, almost immediately walking away with Kuma following him close by.

"If you want to get problems wizh Britain, don't count wizh me." stated France.

"Heh... Suit yourselves!" grumbled Allen, turning away to go upstairs to the brit's bedroom. "At least, I'll have my fun!"

\- Time Skip where the reader is surprised by the american psycho -

A shout echoed throughout the whole mansion, but not just any shout; a female shout whose timber Oliver knew all too well.

Instincts kicking in, the englishman abandoned his task of preparing the lunch and took off running to the place where the yell had came from, his own bedroom.

He was quick to reach his room, Matt, Kuma and François trailing behind him, curious to watch the scene.

Inside the room, Allen, with his nailed baseball bat, had cornered a terrified (f/n) on the wall furthest away from the door.

"No escape now, doll face!" mused the american, getting his bat ready to strike; the girl closed her eyes, anticipating what was to happen.

"Do that and you'll become one of my cupcakes!" growled a familiar voice from the doorway, causing both victim and offender to turn their gazes to the source.

"It's just a chick, old man. You can find another!" scoffed the red head, waving his bat carelessly around as he talked; the female slid her back down the wall, in fear of the bat hitting her (whether for mistake or on purpose).

"No, I cannot!" argued the brit, tightening the grip on his butcher's knife. "Now leave her alone, Al!"

"Or what, old man?" mocked the american.

"I'll make sure you can never use that bat again." stated Oliver, swirls of pink appearing in his eyes.

"Tch, keep the girl I don't care!" shot America, stomping his way out of the house, closing the door rather loudly.

A sigh of relief left her lips and Oliver let his knife fall to the ground, rushing up to her and kneeling down beside her, pulling her up to her feet.

"Are you alright, cupcake?" he inquired, carefully examining her for any possible wounds. She nodded.

"Did he hurt you? A scratch, a pinch, anything at all?" he blurted, placing his hands on her cheeks and forcing her to look him in the eyes. She chuckled at his actions.

"Ollie, I'm fine, really! I'm not hurt, see?" she assured.

"Yes, I see it!" he answered with a smile. "Well, no use in hiding you anymore, is there?" he sighed.

"Seems like it!" she agreed, eyes travelling from the brit, to the two males standing in the doorway and the large bear, and then back at the englishman.

Eleven more months passed without their notice. They got her a room, right beside Oliver's and actually ended warming up to her.

Allen kept his same usual cocky attitude, always trying to get something from the girl; but, with a little help from Matt and Oliver, she learned how to scare the american off.

François was kind of neutral about her presence; he was nice and all, but didn't really act any different than with the others.

Matt developed a good relationship with the girl, especially after having found her tending for a large gash on Kuma's paw, she got scared when he found her disinfecting the bear's wound, but he helped her with curing the animal and the three actually grew quite close to each other. Matt even taught her how to scare off his twin whenever he was starting to become a pain.

And then, we had Oliver; Oliver who saved her life that night, Oliver who always protected her, Oliver who explained to her how to scare off unwanted people, Oliver who taught her how to make both normal cupcakes and cupcakes with his special recipe. He was a bit awkward, weird, creepy even, but he also knew how to be cheerful and a complete sweetheart, and, as difficult as it was for her to admit, she had developed strong feelings for the baker. Oliver, on his side, also harbored feelings for the girl, but, whenever someone tried to face him because of that, that same person would immediately forget about the matter at the sight of the butcher's knife tightly gripped by his hand and the pink swirls that abruptly emerged in his eyes whenever that matter was mentioned.

"You so~ like him, (nickname)!" America snickered.

"Leave me alone, Al, don't you have someone else to bother?" muttered the girl.

"Sure!" he mused. "But those fuckers won't live time enough to get annoyed!"

"You did it again..." she sighed, taking a laying position on the sofa. The red head was about to ask her what she meant with that, but before he could even utter a single word, a huge jar was shoved in his face, causing him to stumble backwards.

"SWEAR JAR!" there it was.

"Cut it out, old man, that's getting annoying!" growled the american.

"I'll stop doing this when you stop swearing!" stated Oliver. "Now, put a coin in the jar!"

"I won't be putting any more money in that stupid jar!" Allen argued.

"Just do it, Al. You he's too stubborn to let you go!" giggled the (h/c) head; a blush touched the englishman's cheeks, but his death glare remained fixed on his younger brother.

"Whatever..." grumbled the american. "Why do you never bother HER about swearing?"

"I never heard the cupcake swearing!" glared Oliver.

"You're covering her up, she swears almost as much as I do!" stated Allen.

"I do not!" contradicted the female.

"Yeah, you do, when you're arguing with me you do!" growled the red head.

"But you always start those arguments, Al, the cupcake is not to blame!" informed the british.

"Tsk, say whatever you fucking want..." grumbled the american, stomping away from them.

"Ollie~!" she mused. "Why is it you never get mad at me when I swear?"

"It, I mean... This is... It's complicated!" he stuttered nervously, diverting his eyes away from her.

"Hm? It can't be THAT complicated, can it?" (f/n) wondered.

"Well..." he muttered.

'Don't tell her, she'll just laugh at you! Kill her so you won't have more trouble!' there it was that little voice in his head again.

"No, I won't do that!" shot the british, shaking his head violently and walking away, to his room, where he could be alone.

"Ollie... What's wrong?" sighed the girl in a whisper, looking at the door where he had disappeared to; a chuckle that erupted from François caused her to turn around, raising an eyebrow at the french. "What?"

"'e likes you, zhat's what!" replied the blond as if it was a matter of fact.

"That... can't be..."

"Oh, but it is, ma cherie! Why do you zhink you're still alive in zhe house of four killers, being zhe one you deem your best friend zhe maddest of zhe group?" he inquired.

"Well..." she muttered.

"Don't know? It's because Oliver made it more zhan clear zhat 'e'd skin alive whoever touched you, even zhe bear!" he informed. "What's more, do you want to know what are all zhose outbursts of 'im like zhat one just now?"

Looking suspiciously at the frenchman, she wasn't really sure about wanting to know the answer to that question, but nodded nevertheless.

"'e's fighting wizh 'imself!" he stated, smirking at the confused expression in her face. "Fighting wizh 'imself about whezher or not to kill you. 'is urge to kill is enormous, but 'e doesn't want to kill you; 'is 'ead tells 'im to kill you, but 'is 'eart refuses. You're just lucky zhat 'is 'eart's wishes are stronger zhan 'is 'ead's in your case!"

"So, all in all, what you're saying is that...?"

"Il t'aime, ma cherie!" said the french with a nod.

"I... I should go talk to him..." she suggested, walking up to the door, but her way was cut by the north-american brothers.

"I wouldn't advise you to do that, eh!" intervened Matt, before (f/n) could say anything.

"The old man's having a fucking crisis again, and he's doing a very big fuss!" snickered Al.

"What are you talking about?" asked the (h/c) head, suddenly alarmed. "I'm sure he went upstairs to his room!"

"He did go, he just slipped away while you were talking with frenchy over there!" stated the red head.

"Well, either way I'm going!" huffed the girl, slipping through the brother's and the bear and running out of the house.

"H-hey, wait up, (nickname)!" Allen called, before taking off running after her, quickly being followed by the others, all ready to stop Oliver from slitting open the girl's throat.

She ran the way she had come to know well by the walks she took with the four males. She ran until she reached the entrance of a street she had sworn to Oliver she would never enter again, but this was an emergency, so he'd have to excuse her for this. She ran down the dark street where she had met Oliver for the first time, the street she knew all too well as being Oliver's favourite hunting zone. She ran until, finally, she caught sight of Oliver, only a couple meters away, in the middle of an enormous pool of blood, ready to cut yet another man in half.

"Oliver!" she called, catching his attention. He let the man fall from his grasp and fully turned to face.

"Oh, hello, poppet! What are you doing here?" his eyes were more pink than blue now and his grin emanated a dark sensation.

"Ollie, listen to me!" she asked.

"Ollie?" a frown took over his face. "That is NOT my name!" he growled, getting his knife ready to strike.

He stepped forward, she stepped backwards; one step front, one step back, and they continued like this, until her back hit a wall. The brit's smirk widened to the point that it was almost impossible and a dark chuckle left his mouth.

"You're not my poppet, no, you're a substitute my mind's giving me so I can get relieved!" he laughed; her eyes widened at this, his head was winning him over. One idea came to her mind, she had no idea if it wouldwork, but she had to try; hey, it always worked in books and films, so why not this case?

He kept advancing painfully slow. When he was close enough, she threw herself at him and placed her lips on his with only a thought:

'Please, let this work...'

A couple of moments passed in silence, neither of the two moved at all. It was in that same moment that the other three and the bear arrived in the bloody scene; the brothers were about to run forward, but François stopped them.

"What are you doing? The old man's going to kill her!" shot the american.

"Wait!" ordered the french, observing attentively the scene.

Out of the blue, the sound of the butcher's knife falling to the floor echoed in the empty street, surprising the north-american brothers.

Oliver felt the pink in his eyes disappear unexpectedly, and his now blue eyes moved to the girl kissing him. He parted away and took her into his arms, hugging her close to his chest while letting himself fall to his knees, blood splattering as they fell to the ground.

His eyes widened as realization hit him about what he had almost done.

"I-I'm so sorry, (f/n)!" he apologised, tears starting to spill from his eyes. "You must think I'm a monster, I almost killed you... You must hate me now..."

"Ollie!" she called softly. "I don't hate you and I don't think you're a monster!"

"You... don't?" he whispered.

"No." assured the (h/c) head. "Maybe a little psycho..." she joked with a smile, obtaining a little chuckle from him. "...but that doesn't change anything!" she said, lightly caressing his cheek with her hand and wiping the fallen tears away. "You're still my bestfriend and I..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "...and I love you!" she admitted with a sigh.

Hearing this, the male's arms tightened around her form.

"I love you too, cupcake, and I'm really sorry that I almost harmed you!" he admitted.

"I know, Ollie, I know...!" she responded with a smile.

"What the fuck just happened?" shot Allen, watching stupidly the scene.

"Something unexpected, eh!" smirked the canadian.

"Maybe zhose fairy tails et romantique films aren't all zhat stupid after all, non?" chuckled François, obtaining inquiring looks from the brothers. "Love in some cases can really overcome anyzhing!"


	4. Viking Norway

I suddenly found myself in a most uncommon place; the sky remained swirling with the colours of blue, pink and purple, like the vortex, the was an infinity of pure white; this space was empty, an emptiness I had never witnessed before, nor did I thought possible of existing.  
I looked around. Nothing! I walked around. Nothing! I tried to call for help. Nothing, not even my echo!  
I spent hours wandering around this place of nothing, searching for someone, for something, for a way back. Why did I have to let my curiosity win me over and check the mysterious sound in the bathroom? Curse my stupidity; now I was literally in the middle of nowhere with apparently no hope of escaping!  
After all the time I spent wandering, something caught my eye; only a couple of meters away from me was a female body, but the body was strange, her hair was long and pitch black, her skin was a pale pink, then there was her eyes... her eyes were hollow, this girl, no, this thing, seemed to have come straight out of an horror movie.  
"Who are you?" I called out, maybe this thing could show me the way out of this place, hopefully.  
"Me?" it wondered, turning it's head to face me. "I am me, just like you are you, and no one else."  
"That... didn't answer my question..."  
"The only you have that needs an answer is: where are you going?"  
"I-I don't understand what you mean..." I stuttered, confused.  
"You've been wishing for something for a while now, no?" it inquired.  
"What does that have to do with any of this?" I demanded.  
"Everything!" it stated. "And I'm here to tell you that, if you escape this place alive, your future might be waiting for you~."  
Before I could say anything else, the mysterious being dissolved into the pure white floor, no signals remained of it's presence here just seconds ago.  
"If I escape this place alive my future'll be waiting for me? What the hell does THAT mean?" I scoffed; that is, until I felt something hit my head, before I heard it falling to the ground. Looking down, I saw a small rock, even though I found it weird, I paid it no attention, until...

"A life for a life..." it was that girl's voice, a rock almost my size fell a few meters away from me."  
"A time for a time..." a larger rock fell a little closer to me; startled, I took a few steps backwards.  
"A memory for a memory..." an enormous rock fell right in front of me. This was all it took, I turned around and took off running as fast as I could. I really needed to escape this place no matter what!  
As I kept running while avoiding the falling boulders at the best of my abilities, the same voice echoed in this previously empty space:

"A life for a life,  
A time for a time,  
A memory for a memory...  
This is how it works, if you want something, something you must give.  
Dimensions... Dimensions... Is something people really like to imagine about; but you know why no one really knows? Because the principle is the same!  
For your wish, the principle is the same:  
A life for a life, a time for a time, a memory for a memory, and..."

The voice stopped just as I came to a stop in front of two different vortexes, well they were really similar, the only actual difference was the colouring: one was pure white, the other swirled with the colours of red, white and dark blue. So, according to the 'girl', one of the vortexes was my way out, but which one?

"Having difficulty choosing?" came the feminine voice from behind me. "Here, let me help you!"  
Next thing I knew, I had been pushed into the multicoloured vortex.  
"You know what is the last trade?" asked the disfigured being as the vortex swallowed my body. "A world for a world!"

Weird... I always thought I would be swirling around if I ever entered a vortex and this is the second time today I was proved wrong. I mean, the colours of the vortex did swirl around me, but I was simply floating in the air, like some kind of illusionist.  
I looked around. Wasn't this supposed to be my way out? Because this surely didn't seem exactly the place where my future was waiting for me!  
Out of a sudden, I felt a pinch; looking down, my body was quickly being enveloped by a dark blue light. The light remained there for mere seconds, before disappearing; somehow the light had turned my clothes into an ankle-length dress, simple and made of what it looked to be polar-animal fur, despite the (f/c) colour, my shoes had been turned into black flats and my hair was now carefully braided, also the food and sauce covering me had vanished, even though the smell of the meat remained.  
"What's happening?" I wondered, my question wasn't answered, right the opposite; the red, white and dark blue swirling me was quickly dissolving into the form of a thick forest, a nordic forest, it was extremely cold and everything was covered by snow. Silently, I thanked the gods for the long-sleeved fur dress, although I wasn't all that thankful about the shoes that had been given to me. I've been out here for not even a minute and I already felt my feet freezing.  
"Great place to find a future!" I scoffed to myself, taking a completely random way to walk through the forest. "Honestly..."

(Change of POV - 3rd person)

She slowly made her way through the snowy grounds, embracing herself in a tentative to make the cold disappear, she could even see the puffs of air leaving her mouth due to her breathing. She wandered around the forest for god knows how long, the sky was starting to darken and she felt herself loosing strength, her body wanted to fall asleep, but her head assured that that would be the death of her, so she refused to break and kept walking; until, at some point, everything faded into black...

Somewhere else in the forest, a group of vikings returned their home-village from a hunt that had turned out beautifully; they were celebrating the amount of preys they had managed to catch.  
They celebrated, until one of them caught sight of something, something that resembled a human body fainted in the snow. Calling the others' attention, the man that had sighted the body pointed his sighting a few meters ahead, half-covered by the falling snow. Curious, they approached, confirming that it was in fact a human body, the body of a young woman, to be exact; she was pale, much more than what it was considered healthy. The man leading the hunters, kneeled down next to her laying form and reached out to check her temperature, her skin was cold, she was freezing; looking for a pulse he found it, her heartbeat was weak, very weak, but it was still there, meaning there was still hope for the girl to survive. Carefully, he picked her up, and the vikings started on their way again, but, this time, faster.

She started to feel conscient again, her eyelids felt heavy and her head was aching, but somehow she felt warm and comfortable, almost like she had never left her bed that day.  
'Weird...' she thought. 'I'm sure snow is not warm!'  
Slowly, she blinked her eyes open; she saw a wooden ceiling, that only ticked her curiosity off even more, and looking around, she was laying in a simple bed inside a room, a room that seemed taken out of that films of vikings or pirates. Now, that was strange indeed...  
Was she in some kind of mountain house? Had someone rescued her from the snow? Where was she? And more importantly, what the hell had happened and what was happening right now?  
With a wince, she sat up with the help of her arms. Unexpectedly, something fell from her forehead and to her lap; looking closely, she saw it was a wet cloth, like the ones people used to use to lower the fever. She gently picked the cloth up and placed her beside the pillow. Then, with a slight effort, she slipped from under the covers and got up from the bed.  
It hurt a little to stand, but she stumbled across the room, using the wall as a support as she made her way to the door; silently, she opened said door, popping her head out of the door. On the other side was a rather large room with a big fireplace right in the middle of the room, the fire spread a pleasant warmth around the place; spotting no presence, she silently crept into the room, quickly exploring the division and the rest of the house before the owner of the house decided to make an appearance.  
The house, in general, was fairly simple and didn't have all that much furniture and decorations, although it did have an altar dedicated to some god, for the looks of it it seemed an altar to the nordic god of the war and the thunder, Thor; for all she had seen, not only the bedroom, but the entire house seemed to have come from one of those films or documentaries about vikings, it was strange, to say the least; she didn't stepped outside, honestly, after everything she had seen JUST inside the house, she was a bit jumpy about what exactly could be find in the outside. With a sigh, she turned away from the door that lead outside and walked back to the altar, which she decided to examine closer, just in case there was something she had failed to notice that might help her discover about her current position and a way for her to return home. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't really remember much from before waking up in here; she tried harder, but no avail, she couldn't remember where she had come from, who her family was, who her friends and enemies were, nothing, the only thing she actually remembered were facts strictly about her.

The sound of the main door opening caught her attention and, startled, she abruptly turned around, only to come to face a blond man entering the house. He was tall, thin and his eyes were a dark shade of blue.  
"You're awake." he stated, breaking her from her trance.  
"A-ah... I..." she stuttered, not knowing for sure what to answer.  
Ignoring her tentatives to say something, he dropped the cape of fur from his shoulders and moved to one of the wooden benches beside the fireplace, where he heavily sat down.  
Dumbfounded, (f/n) followed the male with her eyes. Was it normal for people to act like that? Surely not, this guy was just weird; yeah, that was definitely it! Before she could say anything or move from her place beside the altar, the man's voice resounded:  
"Why were you in there?" he asked, not turning to face her.  
"There?" she wondered, unsure about what he was talking about. "Where?"  
"In the forest." he clarified.  
"I was?" she mused, trying to remember what had happened; her expression suddenly lit up. "Yes, I was! But..."  
'How did I get there in the first place?' she thought to herself.  
After a couple of minutes of silence, the blond turned around, only to find the girl frowning while furrowing her eyebrows in a thoughtful manner; he raised an eyebrow at the scene before him.  
"I don't know..." she whispered, gazing up. "I don't remember... Anything..."  
"I'm sure that's just temporary."  
"No, you don't get it, I can't remember where I came from, how I got here, I don't remember my family and friends, I can't remember my home! And now, here I am, in the middle of god knows where, in god knows what time and with someone I don't know from absolutely anywhere!"  
Ignoring her again, he got up and started walking towards the kitchen.  
"Lukas!" he stated when passing by her on his way.  
"What...?" she blinked in confusion.  
"My name is Lukas!" he repeated.  
"Oh... Well, I'm (f/n)!" she replied, before he walked away.

-  
Slowly, the time passed, even slower as (f/n) tried to get used to this new style of life: cooking, cleaning, having to light the fireplace up, among many other things, were tasks she had never really gotten used to, but, hey, there's a first time for everything, right?  
Although she was trying to get used to everything, Lukas never really let her stray far away from the house whenever she was alone; always telling her that she could get lost or find wild carnivorous beasts such as bears and wolves if she exited the village on her own; no need to mention that his trick worked out fairly well, she did wander freely about the village, helping people with their tasks or just chatting a little, but she never placed a foot outside the village when she was alone, when she had something to do in the forest, like collecting firewood, she only went if and only IF there was someone, preferably someone with the ability to deal with the wild animals, with her. But, overall, she actually enjoyed the life in here, even if she did know that she was living with people that were considered ruthless killers by other peoples, and despite the cold of the place; talking about the cold, she had gained the habit of using Lukas' fur capes, always saying something along the lines:  
"This place is too cold for me, how do you people handle it?"

Across all that time, she also got to know quite a few people, two of those people being Lukas' closest friends: Matthias from Denmark and Berwald from Sweden; they were nice, but her honest opinion was that, albeit nice, the danish was too loud and got drunk more often than she considered healthy, the swedish was a sweet man, but his quietness and his fix gaze often scared people, and then we had Lukas, he was sweet, maybe a little too blunt, he speak much, a little protective, but, a sweet person in general, and very patient if we have in account all the mistakes she had done while getting used to this new way of doing things, mistakes that she kept committing in some cases.  
Oh, and she also discovered something quite astonishing! One day, Lukas and Berwald left her to keep an eye on Matthias as he drank while they went out to do... something. Now, after a few, or should I say, a whole lot of drinks later, he might have spilled out something about him and the other two being countries instead of regular humans; she found this a little suspicious, but never really commented on it. When she mentioned the dane's confession to the other two, though, she honestly thought that Matthias wouldn't escape alive from the norwegian's grasp, she would've interfered, but Berwald's hands were placed on top of her shoulders, keeping her on place; after a while, she promised she wouldn't tell a soul about it and the matter was forgotten.  
Speaking of Matthias, hadn't he promised to take her for a stroll on the forest? Yes, he had, and he was running late, if Lukas arrived home before Matthias picked her up, then they wouldn't be able to go out!

"Hej! The King of Northern Europe's here!" announced Matthias as shot the door open.  
"It wasn't about time, you stupid dane!" (f/n) scowled, quickly grabbing one of Lukas' capes and placing it around her own shoulders.  
"You're starting to sound like Norge, you know?" joked the blond.  
"No, you're just stupid." she commented.  
"Nej, most people call me an idiot or an airhead, you and Norge are the only ones to call me 'stupid dane'!" he remarked.  
"Well, I do live with him, so it's only natural, oh Your Smartness, the King of Northern Europe!" mocked the (h/c) head, performing a bow, before grabbing the male's arm and start pulling him along. "Now, let's go before he comes and kicks you out for trying to get ME out!"  
"Right, let's go!" he agreed.  
They sneaked out of the house. It was a hard task not being seen by anyone as they tried to exit the village, or so they thought, since the alarm wasn't given like it always was everytime someone caught them trying to sneak into the forest.

"Ah, it's so good to come out and enjoy this air every once in a while!" mused the (h/c) head, happily skipping through the snowy grounds near the top of the fjords.  
"Ahahah, come here, look at the sight from over-!" startled by the male's abrupt stop and the shout that left his mouth, she turned around just in time to see the point of the fjord breaking under his feet and, terrified, she saw him fall.  
"MATTHIAS!" she called, running forward; he was dangerously dangling, just about to fall to the Nordic Sea.  
"I'm fine!" he assured, struggling a little as to not fall.  
"Ah, hang on..." she breathed out, panic rushing through her. "I'll get help!" she shot, suddenly starting to run back to the village, not even remembering about how much she would have to hear about ignoring the rules.

Meanwhile, in the norwegian village...  
Lukas entered his house with a sigh, relieved of returning to the warm and comfortable place, but something seemed off; looking around, there was no sign inside the house of a presence other than his. (F/n) wasn't home, but he hadn't seen her in the village either, and she was too afraid go out on her own, and if she had gone out with someone, then someone would've warned him after he got back, and Berwald would've warned the entire village if she was to go out with him, otherwise...  
"Matthias..." growled Norway under his breath, stomping back outside.  
Most people stopped on their tracks at the sight of the fuming viking.  
"Has anyone seen Matthias? Or (f/n)? Or both?" he asked, everyone shook their heads negatively. The blond let out a desperate sigh, but then...  
"Excuse me, Mr. Bondevik!" he heard a small voice and felt slight tugging on his tunic; looking down, it was a little girl that went by the name of Ingrid.  
"Ingrid, did you see them?" he wondered, kneeling down to the child's height; she nodded promptly.  
"I saw them sneaking into the forest!" she stated.  
"I knew it..." he mumbled under his breath, before softly thanking the child: "Thank you for telling me this."  
That was when...  
"Lukas, Lukas, please! Help!" a call was heard, turning around, it was (f/n) that came running and stumbling out of the woods.  
"Lukas, I'm so sorry, I will never disobey you again, I'll follow every rule, I'm so sorry, I didn't want for this to happen, I..." her teary confession was interrupted when Lukas started to stroke her cheek and wipe the panicked tears from her face.  
"Hej, calm down and tell me happened." he asked, maybe a little too harshly.  
"Me and Matthias, we were walking, b-but then Matthias, t-the fjord broke and he f-fell... H-he caught hims-self b-but he's t-too heavy and-d I-I can't p-pull him u-up!" she hiccuped; Norway's eyes narrowed at her explanation.  
"Can you lead us there?" he demanded. Shakily, she nodded in response and didn't hesitate to grab his hand and lead him and a few others to the spot.

Right on the indicated spot, they saw the danish suspended by only one of his hands. Hurriedly, three men pulled Matthias up; Lukas didn't move, he stood slightly ahead of the (h/c) head, their hands remaining linked, his gaze harsh upon the man that was being lifted.  
The dane thanked the norwegians who, perceiving the tension that emanated from the Bondevik, left; then, their gazes meet.  
"Stupid." the word broke through the silence.  
"Calm down, Norge!" said Matthias. "Nothing happened!"  
"No, luck did us a favour..." agreed the shorter male.  
"Then..."  
"...this time!" completed Lukas.  
"Why are you so mad anyway?" shot the danish; that was it.  
"Why? Why?" growled the norwegian. "It could have been her instead of you! What then? You can hold yourself up, she cannot! But still, you ignored everything and took her to one of the more dangerous places in the surrounding area!" with every word, both Matthias and (f/n) flinched, aware of the stupidity they had committed.  
"I'm sorry..." muttered the danish.  
"Just, go home, I'm sure you have work to do." stated the norwegian, before walking back to the village with the (h/c) head trailing beside him.

"Lukas, I'm sorry..." whispered the girl as they sat close to the fireplace.  
"Why?" he inquired.  
"It's my fault that we went there!" she answered.  
"I know."  
"Then why are you mad at Matthias? You should be mad at me!"  
"Because the dane was the one stupid enough to take you!" he replied, lifting his eyes from the fire to look at her.  
"Still..." she started.  
"And I couldn't be mad at you, because..." he began, causing a curious look to appear on (f/n)'s eyes. He took her hands in his and was about to speak up, but...

"LUKAS AND (F/N) SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-..."  
"DANE!" growled Lukas, taking off running after Matthias.  
"I love you too, Lukas, I love you too..." she giggled in a whisper.


	5. England

Nothing! That's what I saw as I opened my eyes, after the not-so-calm travel through that vortex; I saw nothing except for the swirling colours around me.  
I huffed, more than simply annoyed. Weren't vortexes supposed to be some kind of portals that lead us to different places and dimensions? In that case, why was I in the middle of nowhere instead of an actual place?  
My annoyance was short-lived because, out of the nowhere, a house materialized right in front of me. The building was clearly old and abandoned, the doors and windows cringed painfully despite the lack of wind; the house was overall shady and resembled the houses from the horror-suspense films, but hey, it was better than nothing! Right?  
Warily, I pushed the door open and entered the building. The floor screeched under my weight, everything was covered in a heavy layer of dust; I had never been in such a creepy place before and, honestly, the lingering silence did not help. From the corner of my eye, I think I saw a figure moving, but when I turned, nothing was there.  
Frankly scared and creeped out, I was about to get out of the house running; but the front door suddenly shut close, I tried to open it, but no avail. I looked around, but all the windows were also tightly locked. Now my only hope to escape were the windows upstairs, or so I thought...  
When I was about to climb the stairs, someone else was coming down. It was a woman, a beautiful woman, her features were those of an angel as was her clothing; but in my current situation, I wasn't about to trust just anyone. I was ready to scream and run, but...  
"Hello, (f/n)!" she said, easily catching my attention.  
"H-how do you know my name?" I stuttered out.  
"I know everything about you, my dear. Not just your name, but your life, and your wishes too! And that is why we are here!" she informed.  
"Why, exactly?" I wondered.  
"Your wish!" she clarified. "The one you always make."  
"What about it?" I asked.  
"I am here to give you a choice! You have to leave this place, but you can either return home, or follow to the world you've always dreamed to be a part of..."  
My eyes lightened up at this possibility, though, as you may already know, everything comes with a price. It is your choice!" assured the angel, though the look of her eyes was a troubled one. "But I should warn you, to live in a new world, everything you knew must be forgotten, the memories you have specifically about your life will be lost. And maybe a lot of things won't be as you would like them to be!" she warned.  
"My... memories will be lost?" I echoed, incredulous.  
"Yes!" she nodded. "Because that is how the universe works:  
A life for a life,  
A time for a time,  
A memory for a memory...  
This is how the world works, to gain something, you must loose something. A lot of trades can be made! A world for a world is no exception!" she sang. The confidence I had in my decision swayed, but I wasn't about to give up from my major wish.  
"I don't want to go back!" I stated.  
A light smile blossomed in the woman's lips as her figure slowly vanished; a last sentence left her mouth:  
"Open the door and go. Good luck, my child!"  
Following her last instruction, I found the door unlocked. I opened it and was swallowed by a new vortex, this one swirled with the colours of red, white and navy blue. Inside the vortex, a forest green light enveloped me, cleaning my clothes and any remnants of food. Not even a minute later, I felt myself being pulled into some kind of whirlwind.  
Next thing I knew, I blacked out!

\- London (3rd person's POV) -

"That bloody git, as if his food was any better!" scoffed a blond man as he exited the Buckingham Palace after a meeting with the queen about the last world meeting; but the audience with the queen was not the matter bugging his mind, actually, he had just received a call from one of his adopted brothers telling him that he would come to visit him in London soon, of course the loud american couldn't refrain himself from saying how bad the brit's cooking was and that he expected actual food on the table (and with actual food he meant McDonalds or something similar).  
"Hamburgers and chips, does he even eat anything that does not categorize as junk food?!" spat the englishman, careful enough to regulate the tone of his voice that no one could catch his remarks and complaints.  
He was busy muttering to himself about idiotic americans and stupid french as he walked in the afternoon breeze provided by the river Thames that ran alongside the gardens, when a sudden scarlet light at the riverside caught his attention; the vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Arthur, as was named the blond brit, followed the lead of his curiosity, frankly wishing to know what exactly had been that red flash. There, right from where the mysterious flash had come, a young (h/c) haired female laid unconscious.  
What to do now? Arthur was a gentleman, he couldn't just leave her there; but, as a gentleman, was it right to take her to his house without her consent? Well, one thing was certain; he had to do something!  
After an inner discussion with himself, he finally decided on taking her to the hospital, it was definitely the best solution; or so it seemed in his head...  
The closest hospital was almost blowing up with the arrival of patients; maybe a new epidemy was coming to life? Either way, he was asked to wait a few hours.  
"I can't believe this." he muttered. "How is it even possible to be an overpopulated hospital? We're in the United Kingdom, for goodness sake!"  
Against the better judgement, the blond decided to simply take one of his other options. Reluctantly, he took her to his house, laid her carefully on the bed of one of his guest rooms and called a doctor, he sincerely hoped that not all the medics in London were occupied...  
"Mr. Kirkland!" called the physician; the young looking brit approached the old man. "The young lady appears to be stable and in good condition; it might have been just a tension break. I can't say anything for certain until I run the analysis..."  
"I appreciate your help, doctor!" thanked Arthur.  
"It's always a pleasure to be of help, just try to keep her under surveillance until she wakes up!" said the doctor, before excusing himself out for he had more patients who needed to be taken care of.  
"I hope she doesn't take too long recovering, so I can worry about America's visit..." sighed the brit, after having lead the old man out.  
A couple of hours later, a pair of (e/c) orbs were finally opened, just to find themselves in a rather unfamiliar location.  
"Where... Where am I?" whispered the female, sitting up on the bed while warily eyeing the room she was in. The sound of the door opening startled her, causing her to turn her gaze in said direction.  
"Oh, you're awake!" exclaimed the blond man out of surprise, not having expected to find her awake.  
"Yes." she muttered. "If it's not a bother, may I ask you where I am?"  
"At my house, I found you fainted in the middle of the street. The doctor said you were alright and he had no idea at all about the reason you fainted." stated the brit. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened for you to faint in such a place?"  
"Well, I... I..." she stuttered, her eyes getting lost in the infinity as she found that her efforts of remembering were in vain; she barely had any memories of the time before the moment of her awakening, and the ones still present were-a quickly being replaced with a foggy mist in her mind.  
Her mind... was blank!  
"I... don't remember..." she said out loud, before her tone was lowered to the one of a whisper.  
"That's alright, love. It's probably nothing!" cheered Arthur. "Now, tell me, where do you live? Your family must be quite worried concerning your absence; God knows how much time you spent fainted outside."  
"I..." the girl interrupted herself; where exactly was her house? She couldn't really put a finger on the building's location, even though she did have a vague remembrance of it's aspect.  
"...I don't... I don't know..." she admitted with a sigh.  
"Oh... Huh, what about... What does your house look like?" wondered the brit.  
"Well..." she started, only to stop her speech abruptly.  
What was happening? She remembered the building's aspect just seconds prior; she couldn't have about it just like that, or could she?  
"You... don't remember, do you?" breathed out the male, taking notice of the girl's already repetitive expression. She shook her head, a confirmation to his suspicions; she had lost her memory, or at least a part of it.  
"It seems as though you have lost your memory. There's the possibility that you hit your head somewhere in the street!" mused the englishman. "Say, love, do you recall your name?"  
"Yes, I... I'm (f/n)!" she informed.  
"Well then (f/n), I'm Arthur, Arthur Kirkland, and it seems to me that we now have to find a solution for your problem!" he stated. "Preferably one that pleases you!"  
"W-well... I don't remember much, so I really don't..." she started, before being interrupted by the brit.  
"If you allow me, as a gentleman, I would like to offer you a place in my house, that is... if you agree to it, of course!" he offered, revealing once again his polite self.  
"Oh... But I wouldn't want to impose myself..." she muttered.  
"Nonsense, love, it is always a pleasure to be of help!" he brushed off with a light smile.  
"In that case, if you say so, I think I'll accept your offer!" cheered the girl. "And I'll do my best to compensate and help you!"

A few weeks passed and (f/n) and Arthur had gained a healthy friendship; the two got along beautifully. But, even for such a short time, their friendship developed, gaining roots and starting to grow rapidly, and some clear changes became part of the daily routine.  
All of the housework was now divided in two, half of the tasks belonged to the (h/c) head while the other half was the blond's responsibility. The kitchen was now (f/n)'s domain, where Arthur only entered with the girl's permission or if accompanied by her.

Time passed quickly, quicker than expected; only two days were now missing until the american's visit. The brit started to think about the upcoming event, becoming more and more distant; this fact did not escape (f/n)'s eyes.  
"What's wrong?" she asked out of the blue.  
"What makes you think anything is wrong?" inquired the blond, raising his gaze from the book.  
"You've been even less talkative lately, and you seem a bit... distant!" she answered. "I just wanted to know what's been bothering you..."  
"My american little brother, Alfred. He's coming to visit in two days!" he stated with a sigh, placing the book down. "He can't know I have a girl living with me!"  
"Is that the problem?" she inquired incredulously. "You do know that it is normal for people of opposite genders to live together, don't you?"  
"Yes, of course I do, but that is not the issue!" huffed the male. "The real problem is much more complicated than that!"  
"Explain it, then!"  
"You know those rooms I told you never to step a foot in and all those documents I told you to never read?"  
She nodded in response.  
"Well, I... I shouldn't tell you this, but I am not human, I mean... I AM human, just not a regular one." he tried to explain, but, dubiously raising an eyebrow, the girl intervened:  
"Arthur, sweetie, you are making no sense at all!"  
"Yes, I am, you're simply not understanding my point. I am a personified country, a nation, England, and... and I can prove it to you!"  
"And... how exactly do you propose you do that?" inquired the female, not inclined to believe a single one of his words. Without an answer, the brit dragged her out with him and, as response to the question she made about their destination, he said:  
"We are going to the Buckingham Palace to talk to the Queen!"  
"Wait... Is that even possible to do?"

"Do you believe me now?" demanded the blond.  
"I don't have much choice but to!" she remarked, taking a seat on the sofa back at home, after having had a meeting with the Queen herself. "But I still don't understand what is the big deal of we living together!"  
"The big deal..." he started. "...is that countries are not suppose to have any kind of relationships with humans; and being the loud mouth he is, America will tell everyone if he happens to see you. I don't know what the others would do if they were to find out about your presence here..."  
"Why can't countries relate to humans?" she inquired, frankly curious.  
"It was a rule Germany established with everyone's agreement, after so many of us attempted to commit suicide. As much as my relationship with them is bad, France and Russia are good examples of this...  
After the red sunday and all the prior events, Ivan was a difficult person; after the Romanov's execution, he snapped, his mind broke. Do you know why? Because, across the time, he had come to love Anastasia, the princess Anastasia; he still blames himself for not having done a thing to save her. He tried to put a bullet into his head, but couldn't die...  
The same happened with France; he tried to throw himself down a cliff and into the sea. Joan was a great warrior, despite being a female, who remained truth to her beliefs until her last breath. France loved her, even as she burned in the fire until nothing but ashes remained. It is partly my fault that she was executed, but he never forgave himself for standing there watching her burn and doing nothing to stop the execution!"  
(F/n) almost cried as she heard the stories of several heart-broken nations who had tried to put an end to their lives, finally understanding the brit's point.  
"B-but, our case has nothing to do with those, we're just friends..." she muttered.  
"So were they. Our situation has more to do with those than you might think..."

Two days quickly went by, and the day of the visit finally arrived. Arthur and (f/n) had been sure to lock everything that belonged to the girl in her room, and (f/n) was to spend the entire day in a place where the american would never step a foot in, Arthur's bedroom.  
The visit occurred without any major problem, the plan had resulted beautifully; or so they thought... Blue eyes had caught sight of something that would remain hidden inside of Alfred's mind, until the day he would perceive the importance of what he had seen.

Two years passed faster than it seemed possible...  
(F/n) did everything she could to help in the house, always working to the best of her abilities, especially in the days Arthur had to go out to attend something concerning his duties as the United Kingdom. Across this time, she had also made two new friends, Arthur's bestfriends, who visited quite often and who the brit knew he could trust his secrets to.  
Lukas (Norway) and Vladimir (Romania) had both been a bit wary about their friend's decision to ignore that particular rule; but soon forgot about the rule after having warmed up to the girl whose presence was known by only them and the british royal family.  
Whenever some other country decided to visit, the trio would always do their best to hide her presence. Through all of this, she developed a strong and healthy relationship with all the three of them; they even let her watch and assist whenever they were practicing magic.  
Norway was a mysterious person, his face barely showed any emotion at all, but the occasional smiles she managed him to crack every once in a while were enough of an accomplishment to her. Something she really liked about him though, was his endless knowledge concerning fairy-tales; he always told her a different one whenever he came over and explain the meanings, she loved those moments.  
Romania was rather outgoing in comparison to his two friends and a fun person to be with. Believe it or not, he knew an infinity of jokes and rarely refrained himself from letting them out; one more thing, he was a master prankster. One of (f/n)'s favourite activities with the romanian was planning pranks to be used against other countries.  
England... Ever since he had take her in, he always acted as a gentleman, always thoughtful, caring, tender; he was a tsundere, it's true, but he was also the container of a wonderful personality. All of this, this was the reason why, slowly but surely, a flower of love began to blossom within her.  
Unknown to her though, the subject of her feelings had also developed matching ones. Vladimir and Lukas knew all too well about Arthur's emotions, but, fearing the possible consequences of this forbidden love, searched for solutions with the brit's help.

They thought England was doing a good job in concealing his emotions from others, but that soon stopped being the truth.  
First, he stopped voicing his opinions, not concentrated in the matter; then he stopped yelling at Sealand, stopped bickering with France, started to ignore Russia (and everyone else for that matter), stopped arguing with America, stopped, he just stopped; he started to arrive late to some meetings (whenever (f/n) caught something). At the beginning, everyone had their suspicions; with the time, suspicions began to turn into assumptions, assumptions that would soon become certainty... only due to a forgotten detail...

For the last week, (f/n) had been terribly sick and England had arrived mere minutes earlier than America to four meetings.a.  
This particular day though, Arthur was refusing to leave the girl on her own due to her slight fever, but she managed to convince him to go and attend the World Meeting. Realizing how late he was, he rushed to the place, but this time it would be the last drop at Germany's eyes; he would arrive later than Alfred.  
As they waited for the brit, a discussion about what could be happening with him came; a long forgotten memory awakened within the american's mind and the secret was revealed.

As the sound of the door opening echoed, every head (except for two) turned to face the englishman.  
"I apologise my lateness, the traffic was terrible." he stated, having reached his seat.  
"Nein, it vasn't!" calmly disagreed Germany.  
"I beg your pardon?" discussed the brit.  
"Zhere is no traffic vhatsoever at zhis time of zhe day!"  
"Well, I..." started the british, only to have Alfred interrupt him:  
"I saw girl things at your house, Britain, you can't deny it!"  
"I can explain that!" shot Arthur.  
"You know such relationships are forbidden, und you know vhy!" remarked the blond german, starting a lecture about the rule, having most nations supporting him and adding things to the lecture. Said lecture soon lost Arthur's attention as a familiar vibration emanated from his pocket. Looking at the screen, he had received a text from an emergency number; it read:

'We apologise for the bother, but seeing as you were the only contact we had from the patient and as we can't seem to reach you any other way, we are by this means warning you that Miss (f/n) has given entrance in (hospital) with a dangerously high fever and grave breathing difficulties.'

Green eyes widened in both shock and fear; the phone fell to the ground, escaping his grasp... Turning away, he abandoned the room leaving only a sentence behind:  
"You don't choose who you love!"

He ran as fast as he could towards the indicated hospital, only one thought in his mind:  
'Don't die! You can't die! Please don't leave me...'  
Soon, he reached the building; rushing inside, he only stopped after reaching the room. He hurriedly opened the door and rushed to her side; he stood by the mattress and stared at her calm expression.  
A nurse peeked through the door, having seen his rushed entrance in the room.  
"Please be a bit more silent, otherwise you'll disturb the patients." she requested.  
"Oh, yes, of course..." muttered apologetically the brit. "It wasn't my intention to act improperly..."  
"Don't worry, it's quite understandable!" smiled the woman, before returning to her tasks.

Meanwhile, in the room where the world meeting was being held...  
"Did anyone know about zhis?" Germany demanded, his eyes wandering around the room.  
"I did." a voice broke through the silence.  
"So did I!" announced another immediately after.  
All countries turned to the owners, Norway and Romania respectively. Ludwig was about to say something, but Vladimir didn't let him:  
"And I'm not ashamed to say it! Arthur really likes her..."  
"She should just have a normal life vizh ozher humans!" argued the german.  
"She can't!" blurted the romanian. "Arthur found her fainted on the streets a few years ago and she doesn't have any memories of her life prior to that! Besides, most of us have already fall for humans, why are you attacking him just because of this?"  
"Did any of zhose cases end vell?" shouted Ludwig, slamming his hands on the table. Romania casted his gaze downwards, his fists clenched tightly as he bit his bottom lip.  
A heavy silence took over the room, but not for long... France noted the brit's fallen phone, the text message still on the screen; he picked the object up and his eyes ran over the written words.  
"Et zhis one isn't going to end well eizher..." muttered the french, the frowning nations turned to him.  
"Her life's at risk!" he finished, tossing the phone at Germany. Both Ludwig and Vladimir read the message.  
The following instant, the romanian had ran out of the room, dragging Norway after him, only leaving a shout behind:  
"We have to make the spell, NOW!"

It didn't take long for the duo to get to the hospital, to find Britain kneeled beside an unconscious (f/n)'s mattress holding one of her hands in between his.  
"Arthur!" called Vlad, the brit turned to face the duo.  
"What...?" muttered the englishman. "Why are you here?"  
"What are you talking about? We're here to put the plan in motion, we have to do it, else she might..."  
"It's the time, Arthur." agreed Lukas.  
"What if she dies because of not having enough strength to withstand the spell?" wondered England.  
"She'll die either way if we don't do it!" shot the romanian, finally managing to catch the green-eyed male's attention.  
"B-but we're in the hospital, we're done if they see us..."  
At this, the sound of the door locking was heard; a pair of heads turned to the sound's source only to see that the norwegian had closed the door tightly.  
Hours passed, the nurses working on the floor had been panicking as the machines had given an emergency signal and the door seemed impossible to open or break; the mysterious glowing that could be seen from under the door certainly didn't help their case.

"She's not waking up!" cried Britain, tears prickling at his eyes; the weight of Lukas' hand was felt on his shoulder, but he didn't look away from the (h/c) head's peaceful expression.  
"She's still breathing." informed Vladimir, feeling her pulse before stepping back and away from them; Norway followed the romanian's steps, pulling his hand away from the brit.  
Seconds turned into minutes as England spilled his tears over the female; those were painful moments for the nation.  
Then, he felt a soft weight on his head, a frail hand petting his messy blond hair. He blinked his tears away and his green eyes met her (e/c) ones.  
"Hey!" she smiled.  
Instead of answering, the male hugged her torso and cried into her chest; she hugged him back, softly caressing his blond tresses.  
"There, there..." she mused, before taking notice of the other two presences in the room. "Hello, boys!"  
"Hej." said Norway with a light, barely noticeable, smile.  
"Welcome back, (f/n)!" grinned Romania.  
"Ah... It's good to be back!" she chuckled. Looking down, the british was a complete mess, crying into her chest.  
"Artie, it's fine now..."  
"Don't ever do this to me again!" he said, tightening his grip on her. "I've come to love you too much to loose you!" he blurted without realising.  
"I won't!" she acceded.  
"Promise?" he asked, looking her in the eyes.  
"Promise!" she nodded with a smile.

Back home, she was finally presented to the other nations.  
With the whole story of the immortality spell, the situation was rethought and, eventually, everyone accepted the case.

At night, the two were watching (fav/film) while cuddling on the sofa.  
"Arthur!?" called (f/n).  
"What is it, love?" he mused, absently nuzzling his cheek on her hair.  
"I forgot to tell you something when we were back at the hospital..."  
"Hm... And what was it?"  
"Thank you and... I love you too!"


	6. Russia

The mix of colours swirling around me dissolved into a dark purple, all the space surrounding me was dark purple and, even though I felt as if I was standing on some kind of floor or platform, my eyes were not so sure about that assumption.  
Then, all of a sudden, bright yellow letters materialized right in front of my eyes, the colour contrast was ofuscating but I managed to read the words before they disappeared:  
'A life for a life...'  
"What?" I demanded, squinting my eyes. The possible meaning of the words scared me, so I turned around and walked away but, interrupting my escape, another set of words appeared, this time they were pure white:  
'A time for a time...' Now, I was getting officially freaking out; I turned around and, in blood red letters it could be read:  
'A memory for a memory...'  
My eyes widened, what the hell was going on, where the hell was I? This time, I really started to run and I would have continued, had it not been for a little boy standing alone.  
"Why? Why does everyone hate me?" he cried, tears falling freely from his big violet orbs, his blond-silvery hair shaking with every sob that left him.  
"H-hey, are you okay?" I asked, still a little afraid from the prior occurrences.  
"Huh!? Who are you?" he asked, looking up at me with a sniff.  
"Me? I'm (f/n), what about you?" I said.  
"My name's Ivan!" he answered, his little face suddenly lighting up. "Do you want to be my friend?"  
"Sure, I guess..." I nodded dumbly, not quite understanding the turn out of the events. The child cheered, only for his expression to darken again just moments later.  
"If that's the case, I have to ask you to do something!" stated the boy, a dark aura suddenly starting to raise from the ground around him.  
"Alright, what is it you need?"  
"You've seen the sentences from a while ago?!"  
"Sure thing!"  
"You have to make a trade!" he informed, the mysterious aura started to take form around him.  
"W-what kind of trade?" I stuttered, stepping back in fear.  
"A life for a life... A time for a time... A memory for a memory... All of them are trades you will have to do if you really wish to be my friend, but one other is the most important of all..." chanted the child. "A WORLD FOR A WORLD!"  
With this last shout, the dark aura surrounding the kid was projected in my direction; startled, I stumbled backwards and, before I could notice, I had been swallowed by a blue, red and white vortex. The boy's last words echoed in my head:  
"I hope us to become good friends! Have a good new life, (f/n)!"  
A soft violet light enveloped me; when it disappeared, the food covering me had disappeared, my clothes were clean.  
Then, out of a sudden, a wind started to pick up, I closed my eyes as it's unexpected appearance startled me; seconds later, I blinked my eyes opened at the cold I started to feel.  
"What the..." the following words never left my throat; I was somewhere in a deadly cold forest covered in snow during what seemed to me to be the Winter. I started to walk, trying to find a way out of this place; don't get me wrong, the place was beautiful, but it could be the death of me, considering I was wearing Summer clothing. After god knows how long of wandering around, every move was starting to get painful; the cold was biting harshly at my skin and my whole body was starting to feel numb. It wasn't long before I fell down to the snowy ground.  
'So much for the good new life...' my final thought as I felt unconsciousness taking over my body.

(3rd person's POV)

Not so far away, a rather large man walked around the forest; he had come out today to say hello to General Winter and to see the white scenery. This is what he always did whenever he was feeling a bit down; what wasn't usual in this routine of his and he honestly did not expect to see, was a female passed out on the snow in clothes that surely didn't fit the place or season.  
He stepped closer to the fainted female; touching her skin, she was freezing, her pulse was barely existent, nevertheless it was still there.  
"Hm... Maybe I should take her in..." mused the man, revealing a thick russian accent.

\- Time skip -

Long hours passed before the girl even twitched; tired of waiting for her awakening, the russian left the guest room.  
"I have a meeting with the other Allies, keep an eye on the girl!"  
"We will, Mr. Russia!" acceded a brunette almost immediately.  
Hours passed and the female didn't seem even close to awaken.  
"D-do you think she d-died?" stuttered the youngest of the trio.  
"No, she's still breathing, but she might be in a comma..." stated the estonian.  
"Let's hope not, otherwise god knows what could happen to her." commented Toris with a shiver.  
"God knows what will happen to her, whether in a coma or not!" corrected Eduard.  
Meanwhile, in a certain guest room, (e/c) orbs were blinked open to face the unknown surroundings.  
"Eh!? What place is this?" she wondered to herself. Confused, she got up and quietly, almost as if afraid, she stepped out of the room and walked down the rather large corridor.  
She trudged along the halls and looking into several and various rooms, until she finally found one with someone inside. In that room, two males played chess, one being clearly younger than the other, while a third man watched. Thinking about whether or not to interrupt them and ask the questions bothering, she decided on it.  
"E-excuse me?" she called, poking her head inside.  
"Ah, you're awake!" stated the older player, a young man with glasses, obtaining a soft nod from the girl. "We were starting to think you had entered a coma or something."  
"Are you feeling okay?" wondered the only brunette, the man who was watching the others play. "You were almost getting a pneumonia when you were brought!"  
"I'm fine, thank you!" assured (f/n) with a smile and a light shake of her head. "But, if it's not much bother, could you please tell me where I am?"  
"In the surroundings of Moscow, Mr. Ru-, I mean, Mr. Ivan found you fainted in the snow!" informed the older blond. "Why were you wearing Summer clothes in plain Winter, anyway?"  
"I, uh... Well... I-I don't know..." stuttered the female. "I don't remember..."  
The males traded worried glances.  
"Where do you live?" it was the youngest of the trio who had finally find the courage to talk.  
"That's easy!" a bright smile took over the (h/c) head's features, before it quickly disappeared. "It's... I live at... I... I..." Realization hit her; her memories were rapidly fading, she couldn't remember her home, family, friends...  
I... can't remember... anything..." she admitted.  
Despairing, she fell down to her knees, tears threatening to fall.  
"There, there, I'm sure we'll find a solution..." comforted the brunette, softly patting her back. "I'm Toris, by the way, Toris Laurinaitis!" he presented. "And they are Eduard von Bock and Raivis Gallante!" he said, pointing respectively the older blond and the youngest of the three.  
"You... remember y-your name?" stuttered the one who had been introduced as Raivis. Wiping the few tears that had escaped her eyes, she half-shook half-nodded her head and, in a whisper said:  
"(F/n), I'm (f/n)..."  
"That's a good thing!" stated Eduard with a smile, causing the girl to send him an inquiring look. "If you remember something, then your memories shouldn't be hopelessly lost!" he clarified; that statement earned him a light smile from the female.  
"Thank you..." she whispered.  
A couple of hours passed...  
The Baltics were getting along extremely well with the girl; and the only factor worrying them in what concerned to the girl's presence, Mr. Russia, had yet to return home.  
"Can I help?" she asked, watching the two blonds moving around in the kitchen, cooking.  
"No, it's not necessary." Eduard brushed off, carrying ingredients from one place to the other.  
"But I want to help~!" she whined.  
"Well... Why don't you go ask Toris?" suggested the estonian.  
"Yeah! I'll do that!" chirped the (nationality), hopping off the bench and skipping to the dining room, right beside the kitchen.  
"Let's just hope Mr. Russia doesn't find out about this..." sighed Eduard, quickly returning his attention to the boiling soup. Raivis nodded in agreement.  
"Hey, Toris~!" she called, moving to stand by the lithuanian. "Can I help?"  
"I-I don't know if that's a good idea, Mr. Ivan might be mad if he finds you working!" he stuttered.  
"But your boss isn't here yet and I'm bored, please let me help!" she begged, pulling out her best puppy eyes.  
"O-okay, but you'll only help getting the table ready, nothing else!" he conditioned. In glee, (f/n) agreed and quickly concentrated herself on the task ahead.  
The minutes passed rather slowly, and the sound of the front door opening and closing announced that this wasn't a lucky day for the baltics. The trio paled at the sight of a large russian stepping into the dining room as (f/n) arranged the napkins; the tall blond was in the company of a much smaller asian man.  
"Is that her, aru?" asked the brunette newcomer, his tone low; the question was clearly being directed to the russian only.  
"Da, but she was still unconscious when I left!" nodded Ivan, only then noticing that she was helping the terrified trio doing their tasks; a dark aura surrounded his bear-like form. "Why is she working?" he demanded.  
"W-well..." stuttered Toris.  
"I-it is not our f-fault...!" Eduard gulped.  
"We shouldn't have let her help..." Raivis cried. Hearing the familiar voices panicking, (f/n) walked up to the newcomers.  
"Oh, you must be Mr. Ivan, the boys' boss!" she stated, looking up to the russian. "I'm (f/n)!"  
"I am sorry they made you work in your condition, I'll be sure to punish them later!" Ivan apologised.  
"Made me? Punish?" blinked the girl, suddenly starting to chuckle. "Oh no, no, no, you got it all wrong! They didn't want me to help, but I convinced them to let me help, since I was getting a bit bored on my own."  
"Huh, (f/n), would you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen?" requested the youngest of the males, after having received a certain look from Ivan.  
"Oh, sure thing, Raivis!" nodded the female. "Come on, then!"  
And so the duo left the four males to talk on their own in the dining room.  
"She seems to be fine, Rus-... Ivan, aru. Why did you need me to come?" asked Yao.  
"She had been sleeping for hours when I left!" stated the russian. "But I have to agree, she does appear to be fine now..."  
The two remaining baltics traded glances.  
"If I may, Mr. Russia, Mr. China she isn't all that well...!" stated the lithuanian, trembling lightly.  
"What!?" Russia demanded harshly, leaving the two smaller countries whimpering.  
"What is the problem?" wondered China, in a more nice manner than his ally.  
"She doesn't remember anything except for her name, age and personality traits!" informed Estonia, blurting out everything he knew regarding the matter.  
"Strange, I've never heard about such a memory loss, aru... Just the basic things about herself, you say, aru?" mused Yao; the baltic duo nodded vehemently.  
"We thought that, maybe, finding her family we could take her to them, but..." started Lithuania.  
"But?"  
"She can't even remember her last name, how are we supposed to find any relative of hers?" finished the brown haired european; as he finished this sentence, the disappeared duo reentered the room, carrying two large pans and heavily placing them on the table. Returning his attention to the female guest, Ivan said:  
"You will be staying with us until you remember something that can take us to your family, da?"  
"Huh... O-kay, I think...!?" After dinner, (f/n) allowed Yao to examine her condition, since the russian seemed to trust him on this; from that day forward, the chinese man started visiting the household in order to see how she was handling things.

Two years passed and (f/n)'s memories never returned; but she created a new life, a life she considered to be nearly perfect.  
Yao's often visits had turn the asian into a good friend for the girl, he was always nice and his advices and opinions were wise and relevant. He had also been the one telling her about them being countries and about the points she would have to be careful in concerning Russia; even though the large man had gained the habit of protecting the girl from everyone else, despite all her mistakes and carelessnesses.  
The baltics, she would frequently help them in their tasks, despite Ivan's opposition to this, she couldn't care less.  
Toris had become an amazing friend, he was loyal and had become her confident and one of her bestfriends; he also presented her to Poland, who immediately created a friendship bond with her.  
Feliks was sweet and would often take her out for shopping or going to the cinema.  
Raivis was almost like her little brother, it was too easy for her to forget that he was in fact much older than she was.  
Eduard, her favourite nerd; the two of them would often play chess together and play with the mochis, it was always guaranteed fun.  
Then, we had Ivan's sisters!  
Ukraine had been mostly happy that her little brother had made a new friend, and a girl overall; Katyusha was a sweetheart who loved her siblings and wished for nothing but their well being; the two girls were quick to become friends.  
Belarus had a difficult personality; now, not only did Natalya run away from Lithuania and run after her big brother, she had a new 'game', as she put it, that consisted of trying to hit (f/n), preferably with something sharp.  
The (h/c) head also got to know the other Allies: France, America and England. She found them to be unexpectedly nice, having in account Russia's stories about them; Ivan especially disliked the american, who she actually thought to be nice and childishly cute.  
England had acted like a gentleman and even invited her for a tea and a walk every once in a while.  
France had initially freaked her out a bit, but, after getting to know him a little more, he was sweet and romantic and was very good giving advices concerning love and passion.  
And, finally, there was Russia. The large man could be scary sometimes, it was the truth and she had to admit it; but he had his reasons to scare others away... After suffering such a harsh history, of which he could forget nothing, he had become lonely and scared and scaring others away was the only defense he had from suffering further; he scared the others because he was afraid of being hurt if he didn't do so... But he was also the more caring, the sweetest, the more loving person she had ever met; but also the saddest and the more damaged one...  
Ivan was a strange person, but, with all the differences and good points and bad points and memories and everything that made of him who he was, (f/n) had come to love him; as you might guess, no one knew of her feelings, no one but Toris, her confident, that is... As much as the lithuanian told her how dangerous Russia could be, as much as he said that such a relationship could bring nothing but grief; nothing mattered anymore, after those two long years...

But let's go back to the story, shall we?  
"What are you doing, (f/n)?" asked Estonia, seeing the girl preparing a cake. "You do know that Christmas was 5 days ago, don't you?"  
"Of course I do, silly!" giggled the (h/c) head, placing white, red and navy blue frost on the cake.  
"But this is not for Christmas, it's for Ivan!"  
"Mr. Russia?" muttered the estonian, before something flashed in his mind. "Oh, that's right, today is Mr. Russia's birthday!"  
"Exactly!" she nodded happily. "And we have to celebrate, it's not everyday that you make... Huh... How many years does he have, really?"  
"I'm not certain myself!" admitted the blond. "Either way... Do you need any help?"  
"Actually... Yes, I do. Can you get the living room looking at least a little bit more festive? And can someone pay attention to the door?" requested (f/n). "Katyusha should be arriving soon; I tried to get Natalya to come but she says she wants to celebrate with Ivan in private, I honestly don't get how she can be so obsessed, it's her brother we're talking about, for goodness sake..." she ended with a sigh.  
The baltics quickly started and finished the task they had been given and, just as the (h/c) head had predicted, it didn't take long for the ukrainian to arrive; now only a certain russian was missing.  
"You're so nice, (f/n)!" cheered Ukraine. "Doing this for brother, he'll be so happy!"  
"It's nothing much..." muttered the (h/c) head out of embarrassment. "I just think it's fair for him to celebrate his birthday, just a small gesture but I believe it's important for everyone to feel they actually belong somewhere. My opinion is that even the smallest of things can contribute for the gain of that same feeling, or for it's loss..."  
"You're too kind!" chuckled Lithuania, who had been listening to her words. "Even more than I am!"  
"Well... It's the least I can do if we have in account all the troubles I get..."  
"You cause no problems at all, sunflower!" came a familiar voice from the doorway.  
"Mr. Russia!" exclaimed the baltics.  
"Welcome home, Ivan and congratulations!" wished Katyusha, giving her little brother a hug. Smiling, (f/n) observed the siblings' moment, and, only after they parted, said:  
"Happy Birthday, Ivan!"  
"Thank you..." he thanked, taking the small girl in a hug.  
The celebration took it's time but all the six seemed to be enjoying. Time passed quicker than expected; soon, Katyusha returned home and the trio started to clean and organize everything. Traversing the door that lead the greenhouse, Russia found the (h/c) haired female standing right in the middle of his sunflowers, but looking at the snowy weather outside through a window; silently, he approached her from behind.  
"You didn't need to do it." he stated.  
"I wanted to!" she said, then turning around to face him. "And I'm sorry that last year I didn't know when your birthday was, I would've done it then had I known!"  
"Normally no one but my sisters remember my birthday... " he murmured.  
"Yeah, I noticed!" she chuckled. "But I'm going to promise you something..."  
"What?"  
"Give me your pinky finger!" she demanded, raising her own. The russian did as he was told, they laced their fingers and, promptly, (f/n) declared:  
"I promise that from now on, I will never forget your birthday. This day will be celebrated for as long as I live!"  
At the last sentence, the male's smile dropped and his expression turned bitter.  
"For... as long as you... live..." he echoed lowly.  
"Hm...!? What's wrong?" wondered the female.  
"You..." he muttered, falling down to his knees. "You're a human..."  
"Oh..." she released, finally getting his point.  
"I... You'll die..." he sniffed, suddenly throwing his arms around her torso in a pitiful and hopeless manner. "I don't want you to die, I want you to stay, here, with me, forever!"  
"I-Ivan, I... I don't know what to say..."  
"The truth!"  
"What?" she blinked in confusion.  
"I want you to tell me the truth." he requested, before gulping rather loudly. "Do you... Do you like me?"  
The question caught the girl out of guard. She didn't like him, she loved him; but wouldn't the truth end up to be an even stronger blow to him? What was she supposed to say?  
Misinterpreting her silence, heavy tears fell from the violet orbs as he refused to let his grip on her to falter.  
The humid feeling of her now wet shirt and the intensified sniffs and shudders caused her to leave her thoughts for now. Seeing him in such a state, she couldn't lie to him, she needed to tell the truth. A small hand softly started to caress the male's snowy blond locks.  
"I love you, Ivan, and don't you dare to ever think otherwise, ever..." she whispered, tilting his face up with her hand so he could look up into her eyes and understand that she really meant every word that left her lips. Tears also ran down her cheeks; her tears joining his on the ground under them. His eyes widened at the confession and, instinctively, he pulled her down to meet him in the floor and positioning the girl so her head was placed on the crook of his neck and his face was buried in her hair as the loving words abandoned his lips after so long:  
"Ya lyublyu tebya, sunflower..."  
"But I'm afraid of loosing you to death...!" he admitted after they parted, looking worriedly into her (e/c) orbs.  
"We'll find a solution! You'll see..." she assured with a smile, softly caressing his cheekbone.


	7. Sweden

Nothing! Absolutely nothing! After walking around for hours in this... this multicoloured space I found nothing but a small rock. What was a rock even doing here? Where had it came from? It honestly didn't make any sense at all; not to me, at least! With a despaired sigh, I flopped on the ground.  
"Where did you came from?" I asked, looking at the rock that laid on my palm; that same moment was when something more than unexpected occurred... The stone shot out flying out of my hand and into the pavement. Surprised, I blinked my eyes, observing that the object had failed at creating a hole in the floor even though it had indeed disappeared into it. Then, suddenly, the ground started to shake violently, stone walls started to raise from the floor taking the form of rudimentar buildings, the multicoloured sky dissolved into a familiar shade of blue, the violet and pink pavement turned into dirt.  
Before I could realize, I stood in the middle of a village, but not just any village: most buildings were on fire and the expected panicked yells were anything but present. My first thought was: 'I have to get out of here!'  
Following my mind's wishes, I took off running, but something, or rather someone, cut my way. Instinctively I looked up to see a viking, a very big viking looking down at me with dark blue eyes.  
"A life for a life..." he stated; my eyes widened as my mind registered the words. Turning around, I ran the opposite direction. Once again, a viking blocked my passage, but this one had dark yellow eyes.  
"A time for a time..." I tried to run away yet again, but an icy-blue eyed viking stood on my way.  
"A memory for a memory..."  
Finding myself with no other street to run down, I entered a burning building. In my mind, I couldn't have done anything worst; the three vikings entered, each one endlessly repeating his words; I had been cornered, I had absolutely no escape. My primal instinct was kicking in, I was preparing myself to fight, but the echoe of a new voice stopped my actions.  
"A life for a life, A time for a time, A memory for a memory... This is how the world works, to gain something, you must loose something. A lot of trades can be made, you know what the ultimate is?" chanted an old man, emerging from the middle of the large warriors. His hollow eyes turned to me and he repeated the question:  
"Do you, young one?"  
Fearfully, I shook my head negatively.  
"Is the one you are about to witness and suffer..." he clarified. "A WORLD FOR A WORLD!"  
His hollow eyes emitted a strange and sudden light, I felt myself being pushed backwards and into the fire. My last thought was about how I was going to be burnt to death, but instead of being thrown at the fire, I had been thrown into a vortex that swirled with the colours of dark blue and yellow.  
Inside the vortex, an icy-blue light enveloped me, cleaning me of all food remnants and morfing my clothes into a (f/c) jacket, scarf and boots and (s/f/c) shirt and trousers. I got distracted with the sudden change and, before I could notice, I had been spitted towards a rocky pavement covered in snow.  
My landing wasn't all that graceful, meaning I ended up with a good share of scratches and small cuts, but, unlike I initially had thought, I had two more injuries... As I tried to stand, my legs broke down; my right ankle was dislocated and my left leg had a particularly large bleeding gash. To put matters worse, a grunt that I had several times heard via television but never witnessed in real life was heard from somewhere behind me.  
Slowly, I turned my head to see a large grizzly bear approaching me one step after the other. I refrained myself from producing any sound; in my mind I knew I should stay put and not move until the animal had left, but, out of panic and with my veins pumping adrenaline, I got up and started running, forgetting about the effort each move required and the pain it caused. I kept running for god knows how long, until I reached a small cliff; even though it wasn't very high, the rocks on the way down could be the death of me. Unfortunately, distracted by the new danger, I completely forgot about the gigantic beast following me. I turned on my heels as a thumping sound reached my ears. Out of fear, I closed my eyes, and turned my back to the bear. A heavy blow pushed off of the cliff. On my way down, I could feel the burning of the gashes left by the animal's claws in my back, I could feel my body aimlessly hitting the proeminent rocks, I could not feel my right foot, I could feel the pain spreading through my left leg, I could sense my consciousness slipping away... Soon, I blacked out!

(3rd person's pov)

Happily, a young boy named Peter skipped across the forest floor, always under the surveillance of a tall blond suede and a violet-eyed finn. The three had gone out for a walk with the intent of relaxing a bit; what they didn't expect was the abrupt end of their calming trek.  
From the corner of his eye, Peter caught an abnormally big puddle of red; being a curious child, he approached to catch the sight of a female body covered in blood. Scared, the boy ran back to the adults and glued himself to the finnish man.  
"What's wrong, Sealand?" wondered Tino, as was called the finn.  
"I think that lady is dead!" shivered the child, boldly pointing the direction of the place where he had spotted the body. Squinting his eyes, Berwald, the swedish man, strode over to the indicated location; the other two following him close behind.  
In no more than a minute they reached the spot, immediately catching sight of the bloody snow and body.  
Quickly approaching the immobile girl, the suede looked for any sign of life. Catching a faint pulse and an unsteady breathing, he signalled the finn: they had to take her away and tend to the wounds as soon as possible.  
In the nordic household, the girl remained laid on the bed of a guest room. The other three house occupants had been shocked seeing their companions carrying an almost dying girl. After some work and cooperation, they had managed to tend to all her wounds; unfortunately, they had no means to be sure that all the gashes had been entirely disinfected, as they had no idea about how long had she been laying on the snow unconscious. One other downside was that it would be hard to make Peter forget about the disturbing vision he had had in the woods. The bright side though was that the female seemed to have stabilized after having her wounds taken care of.  
A couple of hours passed and she showed no sign of awakening, even though her skin had gained a healthy shade, her breathing had steadied and her ankle had started to regain a normal size.  
Night fell and soon all of the males had recoiled to their rooms and delivered their minds to sleep and to the dreamland.  
2am marked the clock just as two (e/c) orbs opened to face the foreign surroundings. Startled, the (h/c) head shot up from her laying position, frantically analysing the division. After a while, she deemed the place safe and carefully got out of the bed. Her entire body ached and it was difficult to move around on just one foot, but, with a little balance and supporting herself on the wall, she managed to reach the room's door. The hall was dark and empty, signalling that it was in fact late. She walked down the corridor successfully in silence, but the same could not be said about the following obstacle. She fell down the stairs, loudly.  
Alarmed, 4 males exited their rooms only to find that the already injured female had found a way to hurt herself even more.  
"Are you okay?" asked the finn, helping her to stand and directing her to sit on the sofa.  
"I'm... not sure..." she admitted. "What happened?"  
"You don't remember?" inquired a silver haired boy, clearly younger than the other three. The girl shook her head in response.  
"Strange..." muttered the finnish. "We found you in the forest severely wounded." he informed. "What is your name?"  
"I... I'm (f/n)..."  
"(F/n)..." he repeated. "Well, I am Tino and those are Berwald, Lukas and Emil!" he presented, pointing each of his companions as he mentioned the names. Berwald grunted in response, Lukas merely nodded and Emil muttered an 'hej'.  
"And Matthias and Peter are sleeping!" finished Tino.  
The clock marked 3am.  
"Late." said Berwald.  
"Oh!?" blinked the finn. "Yes, we should be sleeping, don't you think, (f/n)?"  
"Ah, yes..." she nodded absently. No more words being said, Lukas and Emil disappeared upstairs. Carefully, the suede picked the (h/c) head up and, followed by Tino, strode over to the guest room and placed the girl down on the bed.  
"Oh, one more thing!" requested Tino before they could leave the room. "Since I don't know when you usually wake up, where is it you live?"  
"I live at... Well it's... I..." she stuttered, no coherent words leaving her lips.  
"What's wrong?" wondered the finn.  
Wrong, had he asked? What was wrong was that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall anything prior to her awakening in this room. No matter how hard she looked, no memory of her life was there to be found. Finally, after a few moments, she admitted with a sigh:  
"I can't remember..." (F/n) felt herself sulking.  
"Hm... Don't worry, that's okay. We'll figure something out!" cheered the violet-eyed man, before turning to exit the room:  
"Rest now, maybe in the morning things will get better!"  
Morning soon arrived and (f/n), tired had overslept even the danish occupant of the house. Tino had been too optimistic the night prior; nothing had turned for the better with the morning. No matter what type of questions they made, no matter how many times and in how many different ways they asked, her answers all lead to the same conclusion, she remembered nothing but the basic aspects about herself. She had lost her memory.  
Reluctantly, they all agreed to the same thing: (f/n) would live with them for the time being until something relevant came to her mind.

Two years passed before anyone could notice. During that time, a good share of relationships were built in the nordic household.  
Peter was enchanted by the girl, he almost even forgot about the finn, (f/n) was his new mother.  
Emil was a shy boy with a strange liking for the fridge, but they had developed a stable friendship (even if his bird was constantly flirting with her, what was honestly creepy) and, whenever Lukas started to bother him, the icelandic would always go to her.  
Tino was an absolute sweetheart. And did you know he was Santa Claus? Ehem... Anyway, he was almost like a house-wife but, once (f/n) noticed this, she started to help no matter how much the finn argued. The two had become very good friends and would always go around with Peter, being followed by Berwald, playing in the snow, playing games or watching films.  
Lukas was a mysterious person with a love for fantasy, magic and fairy-tales. (F/n) really liked it when he told her stories she had no idea existed and she loved to join him when Arthur and Vladimir came over in order to see them practicing actual magic. There was something annoying about him though; his eyes were dull, almost never showing emotion, and he almost never smiled, it was so hard to make him even crack.  
Matthias, the stupid dane as Lukas liked to put it, the King of Northern Europe as he liked to call himself; he was a fun person, it was certainly never boring to be around him. Even though he was a troublemaker that fully enjoyed annoying the other nordics, especially Lukas and Emil, he was a nice and caring person and (f/n) would regularly step in whenever the norwegian tried to strangle him.  
There was one time though when she honestly thought the danish wouldn't survive: Emil wasn't home and Peter was playing outside in the yard on his own; Matthias and (f/n) stood in the kitchen and the dane, drunk, might have blurted out a secret about the six of them being immortal and personified countries instead of regular humans. Tino, Berwald and Lukas entered the division just as the words flew out of his mouth. Norway snapped and Sweden carefully lead the (nationality) out, leaving Finland to calm the norwegian down and reprehend the dane.  
And then we had Berwald. The suede was gigantic and, even though he might appear to be mean and intimidating, he was actually very gentle and a sweetheart. He was caring and attentive and never left things at chance. (F/n) generally kept him company when he was working in his workshop, it never ceased to amaze her the sight of how the suede could create such beautiful things out of wood. She had become a great friend of all of them, but not everything was destined to remain that way.  
Light blushes, embarrassed stutters, accelerated pulsation, nervous fidgeting, everything intensified as time went by; the first times it happened, they believed she had caught an illness but, seeing as her state worsened everytime a certain blond approached, more attentive eyes perceived something different: (f/n) had begun to harbour feelings for the tall country and, unknown to everyone except for Finland and Sweden himself, said male had begun to retribute those same feelings, even though he had no clue about to demonstrate them due to his reserved nature.  
But not everything was a bed of roses... There was a worrying factor: a factor that had came to be due to the situation in which the scandinavians had found (f/n) for the first time. She had been severely wounded the day they found her knocked out in the snow, but the real problem was that, although everything seemed to be okay and even the doctors thought her to be healthy, she never recovered from some of the wound infections that the nordics had failed to heal; quite on the opposite, the occurrence caused her organism to develop a strange weakness, though it was only acknowledged two entire years after (f/n) had joined the nordic household. It was something foreign to everyone; her immunitary system was working just fine, her organism looked to be healthy inside, but her bones lost both strength and resistance, her skin turned pale, she became thinner and thinner; even though her insides worked wonderfully, the least of things could break the fragile being she had become. The nordics were honestly worried about her condition, especially the swedish man; they kept her constantly under surveillance and never let her do anything that required a little more strength or any rushed movements, in fear of seeing her actually break.

Returning to the unfolding events...  
Morning came and, as usual, (f/n) joined the five males in the dining room for breakfast; on this day though, she noticed something unusual: Sweden was not sitting on his spot, nor was he helping Finny placing the food on the table.  
"Where's Berwald?" she asked.  
"He went out to cut some firewood for the fireplace!" informed Matthias without even thinking.  
"Oh..." muttered the girl, right when her eyes spotted an all too familiar coat. "He didn't take his coat!?"  
"Heh, Sve's a tough guy, he can handle the cold!" stated the dane.  
"But he might get sick!" argued the (nationality). "I'll take it to him!" she decided, suddenly getting up and grabbing the large piece of clothing before striding towards the back door that lead to the place where they had the axes, swords, tools and the barrack where wood was guarded.  
"Don't forget to cover yourself with a warm jacket, a scarf and a pair of gloves!" warned Tino, bolting out of the kitchen.  
"I won't forget, don't worry!" assured the (h/c) head, already doing as the finnish had instructed her.  
Grasping once again Sweden's coat, she ventured outside into the freezing Winter air.  
The floor, the trees, the plants, the house, everything was covered in snow; looking around, pure white was the dominant colour; the landscape was beautiful!  
"Berwald!?" called the girl, looking around until, finally, she caught sight of the suede cutting small trunks with an axe; without anything to seclude him from the cold weather, just as she imagined. A smile crossed her lips.  
She didn't remember her condition, she didn't even think when she started running. It probably wouldn't have been a problem, had the season been Spring or Summer; unfortunately, the thick snow was somewhat of an obstacle; she fell and her knee fell out of place.  
A pained cry caught the ex-viking's attention; he turned around to find a small familiar (h/c) laying whimpering on the ground. Instinctively, he released his grip on the axe and ran up to the injured girl, kneeling down next to her and helping her to sit up.  
"What happened?" he asked, once her back was securely held up by his hand.  
"I-I'm sorry, Ber..." she sniffed. "I got careless." she informed, then adding in a whisper as she held the large article of clothing tightly to her chest:  
"I only wanted to bring you your coat so you wouldn't get sick..."  
Unnoticed to the girl, a soft smile ran through the male's lips, but it was almost immediately replaced by a frown as he inquired:  
"Can you stand?"  
"I-I... I don't know..." she admitted.  
With a nod, the swedish took a hold of her arm with one hand, his other hand remaining as a support on her back. Slow and carefully, he began to pull her up with him; everything seemed perfect, until they arrived the point in which she had support a part of her weight on her right knee. Her balance was lost and she would have had a violent fall, had it not been for Berwald supporting her, her body was carefully lowered back down until she was once again sitting on the floor.  
"You can't walk." stated the swedish. Kneeling down, he supported her back with one arm and her legs with the other, only then lifting her much smaller form up and starting to head back inside the mannor. (F/n) comfortably laid her head upon the swedish's chest, though her hands and arms never released the grip they had on the large dark blue coat.  
As the two entered, Finland's eyes were the first to catch sight of them.  
"What happened? Are you okay, (f/n)?" blurted the finn, rushing to their side; only then did the other three men notice the (h/c) head being safely held in Sweden's arms.  
"Her knee's hurt." informed the tallest of the males as he carefully laid the girl on the sofa.  
"Her knee, you say?" wondered Finland. "Do you mind if I have a look at it?"  
Obtaining the female's permission and after being told which knee was the ex-viking referring to, the finish kneeled down and took the liberty to meddle with the girl's knee.  
"Ouch, Tino stop it!" whimpered the (h/c) head, shooing the sniper away; the finn frowned after realizing what was wrong.  
"It's broken..." he said. "How did you do that?"  
"I just tripped, nothing much..." she muttered, shifting uncomfortably under the nordics' gazes.  
"I'll call a doctor." offered Emil, quickly disappearing on the doorway with his puffin.  
"You shouldn't have gone outside on your own!" Norway reprehended, then turning to the danish beside him. "You let her go alone." hence a not so unusual pursuit started.  
"Why?" inquired Sweden.  
"Why what?" echoed the (nationality).  
Perceiving the tension, and knowing about some of Berwald's secrets and (f/n)'s secrets, Finland excused himself out of the room saying that he needed to keep an eye on the food.  
"Why did you go?" he reformulated.  
"I wanted to give you this..." muttered (f/n), delivering him his coat. "I didn't want you to get sick!" she clarified, answering his questioning look. "B-because... I really like you, I mean, you're a very good friend and I think I've started to like like you, but I don't know if you like me or if you like like me too and Finny knows but he won't tell me anything, he just says I'll know when the time comes but I can never be too certain about the time, because you know I'm distracted and all that; either way, even if I don't know if you like like me or if you just like me, I didn't want you to get sick. And I know you're a country and you were a viking and you're very resistant to cold and all that, but I can't get myself to stop worrying, of course I worry about the others too, but when I saw your coat and Matthias told me you were outside, I had to bring it to you, and I... I'm sorry..." blurted confusedly the girl. "This wouldn't have happened, if I only hadn't been so stupid..."  
"Nej, it's fine!" assured Berwald, placing his heavy hand on top of (f/n)'s head and starting to pet her hair soothingly. "It is not stupid to worry for the people we hold dear. Like I worry for you, it's not stupid!" she smiled softly, hearing his last words.  
"You know, Ber, it's been a long time since I last heard you talk this much!" half-joked the female; both chuckled. "But I have a doubt about what you said..." added the (h/c) head.  
"Hm...?" he grunted, suddenly returning to his silent self.  
"Just..." she started, a dark blush spreading across her cheeks at the thought of what she was about to ask. "How much do you worry... about me...?" it was now Berwald's turn to have a blush taking over his face, though his was much lighter than hers, barely even noticeable.  
"Enough."  
"And... what exactly does that mean?"  
"Enough to say..." he started, tilting her chin up and approaching his face so that their foreheads were touching. "Jag alskar dig!"  
(F/n)'s blush darkened even more and her eyes widened, closing at the feeling of the man's lips touching hers.


	8. 2P Canada

Blue, pink and purple; blue, pink and purple; no matter where I turned to and gazed at, this was an empty place, an enormous blue, pink and purple empty place. I tried moving, I walked aimlessly for what seemed like hours, but still found nothing at all. At some point, I sat down, tired of walking and attempting to understand what had happened...  
First, I was bullied at the school's canteen, then I had ran into the bathroom to cry out the depression, and then I had been pulled... and now here I was. But how could I escape this place of nothing?  
I kept on searching, refusing to quit. I had to find someone, or something, at least; it was not possible for this place to be actually entirely empty, not possible... so I kept walking and walking, until...  
Maybe it was camouflaged with the colors, maybe it was covered with something, or maybe I simply wasn't paying attention, no matter the reason, I fell into a whole on the ground. It didn't go straight down like a well, and, even though I soon reached a surface, it wasn't like a superficial cavern; when I reached said surface, my body began sliding down the cold tunnel. Lightly touching the cold surface, it felt like... ice...  
A surprised sound abandoned my throat, still sore from all the crying at the school, as the tunnel opened into a large gallery of ice at the end of the slide.  
This new place was large, the ice shone in tones of red, enormous stalagmites with what appeared to be skeletons on the inside spotted the icy floor; it was frightening actually, skeletons and a blood colored environment...  
Carefully, I moved further into the spooky location; soon, the straight flooring turned into a gigantic stairway that lead further into the depths of this odd dimension, as I advanced, I noticed the skeletons approaching more and more the surface of the ice. Curious, I moved closer to the first one with the cranium poking out of it's eternal prison. However, what happened next, I did not expect...  
"A life for a life..." the strange voice had raised from the free skull, immediately followed by a terrifying cackle. A strained shout left my throat, my throat getting worse and worse everytime due to cold and all the effort; I began running down the steep steps as other skeletons started moving.  
Unfortunately, after a few steps, my balance was lost and the stairs morphed into a slide.  
"A time for a time..." yet another skeleton, this one with a bullet whole decorating his left tempore, spoke as I slid down with crescent velocity.  
"A memory for a memory..." spoke up the last beast in sight. Immediately after, for long minutes, I saw no more skeletons at all.  
For a few seconds, I believed to have finally having reached safety, I believed until a haunting whisper echoed inside my mind...  
"A life for a life,  
A time for a time,  
A memory for a memory..."  
At the end of the slide, a skull that occupied the entire tunnel entered my sight; it cackled and spoke said haunting words. Inside the bony jaws was a new vortex, this one red and white.  
"That is how the world works, to obtain something, you must loose something. Many trades can be made, the ultimate is..." the skull never ceased talking. "A WORLD FOR A WORLD!"  
Next thing I knew, I was hovering in a red and white space; another dimension, maybe... Independently of what it was, I wasn't left with much time to think about it, as a golden and lilac flash of light enveloped my form, cleaning me of what remnants of food hadn't yet fallen off during the turbulent trip, and sent me away to some other place...

Somewhere along the new vortex, something clicked in my mind, causing it to turn... blank!

A blinding light invaded my sight as I opened my eyes, why you ask? The sunlight reflected on the surface of the surprisingly clean snow.  
Where was I? I didn't have a single clue, but I would say a place near the arctic circle, considering all the snow and it's quality... How I came to this place, however, was a complete mystery...  
Shakily, I got up from my half-laying position and braced myself to keep as warm as I could until I found a shelter or someone that could help.  
As I walked, I noticed a strange shuffle in a nearby bush; curiosity taking over, I parted the leaves and saw a baby white fox with it's leg caught in a poaching trap, the cubs mother looked desperate while trying to release the small one. I was sad at the sight, I had always loved animals and they all had a very special place in both my heart and my mind; so, quickly, before whoever had mounted the trap came back, I released the cub and brought it to my arms, I wanted to take care of it's paw before it infected leading to the baby's death, it's mother showed no fear towards me. Unfortunately, luck didn't appear to be on my side...  
"Who do you think you are, robbing us of our prey?" the poachers had made their appearance, and they looked anything but happy; especially if we consider how many guns were pointed at me.  
"I robbed nothing! Poaching is wrong and hurtful to the nature!" I kept my position, even if fear rushed all over my veins.  
"Give us the fox, eh!"  
"No! I refuse to do it!"  
"Then, little girl, seems like you won't get out of here!"  
Protecting the cub with my body the best I could, I stepped aside so they also couldn't shoot the mother fox and closed my eyes, awaiting for my death...

(3rd person's POV)  
A low growl reverberated on the polar bear's torax, alarming any and everyone in the surrounding area.  
"What is it, Kuma?" the bear's owner, a blonde canadian with lilac eyes, asked.  
A few more growls erupted from the animal. Somehow able to understand his pet, the man tightened the grip on his red tinted hockey stick and barked an order:  
"Close, eh?" lilac flashed for a moment. "We'll take care of them right away!"

"Who wants to shoot?"  
"Well, she IS quite nice, we could have a little fun after killing her, before we dispose of the body!"  
Tears began streaming down the (s/c) cheeks as the girl waited for her certain fate. However, at the last second, something changed abruptly...  
"I'll kill her!" the man's words turned into an horrifying scream, causing the girl's eyes to shot open and widen in both surprise and terror; a gigantic polar bear was hovering over the man, ripping him to shreds with it's monstrous canines and claws.  
"Kuma, stop playing, there're more of them around!" a growl was heard, coming from the bear's owner as he broke open the skull of yet another poacher with the help of the bloody hockey stick.  
A small shriek erupted from the girl's throat as she picked up the two foxes and hid within the bush where she had found them, after kicking the trap aside.  
For thirty minutes more, the duo continued torturing and murdering the illegal hunters; it was a violent scene like the (h/c) had never imagined... The snow and the plants were tinted red with the blood of the awful men...  
"You can come out now." the man called.  
Familiar to the man's calm tone, the foxes ran out of hiding, celebrating both man and bear, before turning to face the bush and their first savior.  
"Come out, it's not like I'm going to kill you." he sighed.  
"Y-you're not...?" her voice was coated in fear and his shocked body still refused to move.  
"No! You did save the foxes. Besides, we can't treat the little one's paw out here, and you'll catch a pneumonia if you stay outside dressed like that." he stated matter-of-factly.  
"O-oh..." she stuttered, now embarrassed at the whole situation.  
"Kuma, do you mind carrying them? I don't think she's able to move much." the blond mused, facing the large beast; a low sound, something between a growl and a bark, echoed in response.  
No questions asked, the man picked up the unmoving girl and sat her on the bear's back, then he picked up the mother fox and placed her in front of the girl, and finally he picked up the cub and delivered it to the warmth and safety of the girl's arms.  
For two hours they kept walking, and for two hours the girl's shivers kept growing, until after those two hours, the man finally got annoyed at the constant chatter of her teeth and tremble of her form. A red jacket suddenly landed on the girl's lap.  
"Use it, you're annoying me." the statement came, bluntly sharp.  
Shyly, she covered herself, a sense of comfort immediately invading her.  
"Thank you..." she muttered, embarrassed. "By the way, my name is (f/n), what's yours?"  
Lilac orbs sent the girl a sharp look over the dark lenses, causing her muscles to stiffen ever so lightly; nonetheless, turning to look up front again, he opted to answer:  
"Matt, Matt Williams."  
"And the bear is Kuma, right?" she spoke up again, each second more confident that they wouldn't hurt her.  
"Yeah." he sighed, desperate for silence. "Now keep quiet or I'll kill you like I killed those guys!" the threat elicited a faint giggle from the female's throat.  
"No you won't!" she said, her voice now more confident than ever.  
"How are you so sure of that?"  
"Because... you're a good person!"  
"How can you know that? You just saw me killing fifteen men like it was nothing."  
"You did it for the animals, for the nature; and you saved me too... besides, I am very good at reading people...!" a sad smile crossed the previously bright face and (e/c) was bathed in tears. "I lost most of my memories, you see...? I can't even remember where I lived or anyone's faces... but I remember their voices, how they constantly bullied me at school and how badly they treated me at home... I learned to read people, so I would know who I should stay away from... and I am sure that you are a very good person..."  
Only a few seconds passed before, tired of crying, (f/n) fell asleep.  
"I wouldn't be so sure..." a soft sigh came from the man as his house finally came into view...

Eyelids slowly opened to analyze the foreign surroundings: a simple room, wooden walls and door, a simple bed, a small wardrobe and one single small table by the bed.  
Slowly, she got up, noticing through the window that dawn had barely began; feeling her own form, she noticed that a warm dress shirt had been pulled over her clothes to warm her. A small smile stretched on the (s/c) expression as her bare feet patted softly against the floor, treading the way to the door. Crossing the barrier, she found what appeared to be a living room: within the fireplace the wood burned greatly, at a corner of the room Kuma laid down sleeping and snoring, by the fireplace the mother fox slept soundly, and on the sofa both Matt and the baby fox were sound asleep.  
"I knew you were a good person..."  
A few hours passed and everyone awoke with a delicious scent... Moving towards the kitchen, all four went; coming to face with an unexpected scenery...  
"Good morning, I hope you like pancakes, Matt!" a bright smile opened in the flour smeared face. "I also cooked some meat for the foxes, I only have no idea of what Kuma eats..."  
"Raw meat!" the answer was immediate.  
"Oh, okay, I'll go fetch some then!" she offered happily, soon skipping away.  
"So much effort on looking good so it ends up in our stomachs anyway." the man sighed; but gazing over the flower shaped pancakes and the overly juicy meat, the hint of a smile twitched at the corners of his thin lips.  
Days passed and the poacher-hunter had gradually get used to the presence of the new inhabitant of the shack. The girl was stupidly innocent, but she had a heart of gold and treated him like no one else did, like a person...  
The day finally came when the baby's paw was healed and both foxes were healthy; the farewells were bid and (f/n) warned them to be more careful about traps in the future. That same day, however, was the day when Matt announced that he needed to return to his family's home, for Winter was at its end and he had work to do; the two considered her stay at the shack, but it was far too dangerous at the canadian's eyes, the only other option was...

"I will give you some details, remember them if you want to stay alive!" he warned, receiving a stiff nod in response. "First, Allen, the red head, is my brother, he's all muscles and no brain, he uses a baseball bat and is a flirt that only wants to get someone to suck his sick before he kills said person. Second, Oliver, the pink eyed creep, eat nothing he gives you, he likes to poison every food he touches, and don't get on his bad side, he's the most maniac of us all and WILL use his butcher knife to cut you and transform you into a cupcake if you anger him. Three, François, my father, just don't approach him when his drunk, otherwise it's fine. Four, I am not the only murderer in the family, we all are and the 'family time' is spent killing people. Five, stay close to me as much as you can, I'll keep you safe!"

No sound was heard until they reached the living room.  
"Welcome back, Mattie!" Oliver mused happily, before his face turned into a frown and his neon blue orbs flashed pink. "Who is that with you?"  
"Eh?! Bro brought a new punching bag?" Allen, laughing, emerged from the kitchen.  
"She is no toy!" Matt noted as Kuma growled menacingly at the american.  
"Ease down." François' voice was heard as he put down the cigarette and made his way towards the newcomers.  
"Ma cherie!" he complimented, offering his hand for the girl to take. With a nod from her friend, (f/n) complied to the silent requested. After a soft kiss was placed at the back of the female's hand, the frenchman led her to the centre of the room and offered a place to sit.  
"Thank you..." she muttered inaudibly.  
"Now, please explain, Matt." urged the french.  
"This is (f/n), a FRIEND that will be staying with us. Touch her and you're dead meat!" the canadian clarified with a glare.  
"Tch, whatever, I can fuck any other whore I want anyway!" cursed the red head.  
"ALLEN, THAT IS NO WAY TO TREAT SUCH A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAIDEN, NOW PUT THE MONEY IN THE SWEAR JAR!" Oliver bursted, his freckled face turning red with nerves.  
"Yeah, yeah, on it, old man!" Allen waved off as the british turned to hold the girl's hand with the brightest of smiles:  
"I apologize for his behavior, poppet, but he can be so stubborn sometimes... Either way, I assume you will be sleeping on Mattie's room, correct?" A nod from the girl. "Wonderful, I will set a new bed in there so you can be as comfortable as possible, will you help me preparing everything, François?" A shrug from the Frenchman. "Marvelous! I will have everything ready before the sundown! Oh, that's right, you are the first actual girl friend one of the boys brings home, I can't even express my happiness!" beamed the brit.  
"I could help with the set up too...!" she tried to offer.  
"Nonsense." declared the strawberry-head, pretending to be offended. "You are our guest, Matt will get you acquainted with the house, I will take care of the rest!" and so, he sprinted away, supposedly to the canadian's room.

-  
Thirteen months passed without anyone's notice and, no matter how hard it is to believe, the quartet of killers did warm up to the girl rather nicely, much to her contempt.  
Allen, as always, acted cocky and constantly tried to hit on her; however with a little help from two dears (Matt and Oliver), she learned how to scare off the american nuisance, even if said lessons completely contradicted her personality.  
François was somewhat neutral about the new inhabitant of the house, but he did enjoy her company and the two often talked about several matters that held no attention from the other three.  
Oliver ended up, at some point, stopping to treat the girl like a porcelain doll and beginning to treat her like his favorite stuffed animal instead. The two talked a lot and they always cooked together, even if on the first times (f/n) threw up at the sight of some 'special ingredients', they did the housework together and, whenever needed, they listened to each other's problems to try and help. They were bestfriends.  
And then we had Matt... Matt who saved her, who protected her, who kept all the undesirable people at bay and who shared with her that same and unique love for every living being on the Earth... He was awkward, weird, a bit foul mouthed and had some violent manners (especially with his twin), but he was also caring and a sweetheart and... she had began to harbour feelings towards the stubborn canadian, but was sure they would never be reciprocated.  
Matt, on his side, slowly but surely began to nurture those exact same feelings.  
Kuma, however, was aware of both parts and, even if unable to talk, he would find a way...

-  
hat same person would immediately forget about the matter at the sight of the butcher's knife tightly gripped by his hand and the pink swirls that abruptly emerged in his eyes whenever that matter was mentioned.

-

"You so~ like him, (nickname)!" America cackled.  
"Leave me alone, Al, don't you have someone else to bother?" sighed the girl.  
"Sure!" he mused. "But those fuckers won't live time enough to get annoyed!"  
"Matt heard, he's gonna tell again..." she sighed, deciding to lay down on the sofa. The red head was about to ask her what she meant, but before he could utter a single word, an enormous jar was shoved in his face, making him stumble backwards.  
"SWEAR JAR!" there it was...  
"Cut it out, old man, it's getting annoying!" yelled the american.  
"I'll stop when you do!" stated Oliver. "Now, coin in the jar!"  
"I won't put any more money in that stupid jar!" Allen argued.  
"Just do it, Al. He's too stubborn to let you go!" giggled the (h/c) head; as the englishman's death glare remained fixed on Allen.  
"Whatever..." grumbled the american, throwing a coin into the jar. "Why do you never bother HER about swearing?"  
"Never heard her swearing!" Matt stated.  
"You two are covering her up, she swears almost as much as I do!" Allen said, undignified.  
"I do not!" contradicted the female.  
"You do, when arguing with me you do!" shot the red head.  
"But you always start those arguments, Al, the cupcake is not to blame!" informed the british.  
"Tsk, say whatever you fucking want..." grumbled the american, stomping away while throwing yet another coin at the jar.  
Happy, Oliver placed the jar aside and skipped towards the kitchen to continue the confection of the dinner.  
A few minutes were spent in silence...  
"Al's right... you never denounce me to Ollie, why is that?" she mused, curious about whatever reasons he may have had.  
"It's... complicated..." he muttered, gazing away from her petite figure.  
"But not THAT complicated that you can't even tell me, right?" (F/n) wondered.  
"Well... I guess..." he rationalized.  
"Then, what is it?"  
"I-I can't tell you!" it was the first time she had seen the canadian so exalted, and so red...  
"Do you have fever? You're turning crimson." she frowned, reaching out her hand to touch his forehead.  
"I'm fine, thank you!" he breathed out, inching away from her closing hand.  
However, right when the blond believed to be safe, a strong blow on his back forced him to bend down...  
Destiny or mere coincidence, his nose and lips' position had coincided EXACTLY with hers. It took both a few pleasant moments for their minds to process the fact that they were kissing...  
Pulling away, the reactions differed: (f/n)'s features had adopted a dark crimson completion, her hands moved to cover her face and her eyes were closed in embarrassment; Matt's red tint had paled to a light pink, his right hand moved to hide the lower part of his face and eyes were half-lided.  
"I... actually wanted to tell you that I like you..." he muttered.  
"Really?" (E/c) orbs widened in surprise. "I-I... I also like you... I suppose we should thank Kuma for pushing you...?"  
"I guess so!"

"Took you long enough!" Allen grumbled.  
"Qui votre amour perdure pour l'infini!" François congratulated.  
"We need to start preparing the wedding! How many kids do you want? How much space..." Oliver...


End file.
